BalticWaters Fish Laboratory is inaugurated
Four years ago, the laboratory was just an idea. In November 2024, ground was broken, and last week the laboratory was officially inaugurated by BalticWaters’ founder and the laboratory’s financier, Ann-Sofie Mattson, together with Johan Britz, Acting Minister of Climate and the Environment and Minister of Labor.
The journey here has been a short one, at least when viewed from the perspective of building a laboratory for brackish-water fish at all life stages, from eggs to adult fish. BalticWaters Fish Laboratory was developed to give researchers the opportunity to study the entire life cycle of fish under controlled conditions, while also translating that knowledge into practical measures to help the Baltic Sea’s endangered fish stocks.
Johan Britz, Acting Minister for Climate and the Environment and Minister of Labor, and Ann-Sofie Mattson, founder of BalticWaters.
Konrad Stralka
“One of the laboratory’s goals is to work with restocking of endangered fish species, and in order for adult fish to spawn so that eggs are fertilized and fry hatch, the fish must be in the best possible condition. The environment is optimized so that the fish thrive at every stage, from the period before spawning, during spawning, after spawning, and, of course, during the fish’s early life stages before they are released into the Baltic Sea”, says Konrad Stralka, CEO of BalticWaters.
Over the spring, operations have gradually gotten underway. Both the foundation’s own project, ReCod - release of small cod in the Baltic Sea, and the project CLUPEA, run by Uppsala University, have been underway for a few months in the laboratory. Both herring and Baltic Sea cod are swimming in the tanks, and quite a few cod have begun this year’s spawning.
None of this would have been possible without Ann-Sofie Mattson. And none of it would have turned out so well without our partners and everyone who contributed their work and expertise to make the BalticWaters Fish Laboratory a reality - the first of its kind in the Baltic Sea region.
Thank you to everyone who joined us on our big day!
Of course, visitors receive name tags featuring cold-water fish from the Baltic Sea at various stages of their life cycle.
The inauguration concluded with a tour of the laboratory.
Despite the inauguration, work continues inside the laboratory. Samir and Vincent are examining cod larvae under a microscope.
Andrra documents the hatching of eggs and larvae in the hatchery.
Potos: Madeleine Kullenbo