Could you please introduce yourself?

My name is Reidar Toresen. I’m Norwegian and I work at the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen, Norway.

What is your main role on this survey?

As cruise leader, I am responsible for supervising this survey voyage, and ensuring that the goals of the survey are met as well as possible.

It is also under my responsibility to organize the work on board of the vessel so that the cruise participants can contribute well with their competence and that guidance in sampling procedures and methodology for abundance estimation are provided.  Alongside the local co-cruise leader, I will also be leading the writing of the final report. 

The quality of the results of this survey is of paramount importance for me, and for the cruise team as a whole. Our aim is always to provide fish stock abundance estimates for the country in which we are working: in this case, Ghana.

How you feel working in different parts of the world?

It’s interesting to do marine research in other parts of the world. Working in developing countries is particularly rewarding, because you get the impression that your work is especially useful.

Any other thoughts you may want to share?

It is very rewarding for a scientist to work with people from different areas of the world. Having the opportunity to work in such international and cross-cultural teams is an ideal means to increase and share scientific knowledge on marine resources.

Thanks to Reidar Toresen for joining us!

Readers, if you have any questions for Reidar or the rest of the team, send them our way through the comment box below.