DTU produces graduates for the sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture

Hirtshals is one of Denmark’s most important fishing towns with a rapidly evolving fisheries and aquaculture industry. In September 2023, Hirtshals also became a university town, when DTU set up an MSc programme in Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture. At the same time, DTU inaugurated a new campus in collaboration with the North Sea Science Park, which is an independent institution that researches, develops and, advises on, and facilitates fisheries and aquaculture.

DTU has already strong research environments that include research and experimental facilities in the North Sea Science Park. With a new MSc programme, DTU strengthens the existing educational and research environment as a part of DTU’s goal of educating more engineers throughout Denmark.

“Hirtshals being a university town comes with two major benefits. First, DTU’s MSc programmes are research-based, which means that the learning is based on the research already taking place here,” says Peter Skov, Associate Professor and Head of Studies at DTU Aqua in Hirtshals.

“Second, the location of the study programme ensures that we are close to both the fishing and the farming industry. This means that we have far better opportunities to integrate practical exercises and small-scale experiments into the teaching. It enables our students to follow special courses, take student jobs or write their thesis in collaboration with the industry. This provides students with unique learning opportunities and professional networks that can become useful in their working lives.”

Candidates for regulating fishing

On the MSc programme in Hirtshals, students are trained to contribute to the sustainable fish and shellfish capture and production, environmental assessment and management of sea, lakes, and streams. In collaboration with the business community, they can also help research aquatic ecosystems and organisms and their influence on the global climate.

According to Peter Skov, the candidates are needed to regulate fishing—both to protect wild fish stocks and ensure sustainable exploitation. But also to protect our marine environment from the physical impacts of fishing. This requires, among other things, managing our aquatic environments, but also developing gentle fishing gear and fishing methods.

Today, 14 MSc students are enrolled on the Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture programme. About a third of them are Danish citizens. The international students come from Sri Lanka, Spain, Croatia, USA, and China, says Peter Skov:

“The mix provides an interesting student population that adds to diversity in culture, but also in the students’ motives for following the programme. Some want to go home and teach, some want to work on developing the local businesses, and some want to pursue a research career. Time will tell how many ultimately end up staying in Denmark.”

In future, DTU Aqua in Hirtshals will admit 25-30 MSc students twice a year. In addition, the first BEng graduates from Fisheries Technology will come to Hirtshals in January 2025, where they will spend a couple of semesters.

This is what it’s like to live and study in Hirtshals

Pernille Bak Andreasen grew up in the small town of Brovst in western Jutland, but has lived in both Greenland and Copenhagen for the past five years. Today she is a MSc student at Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture.