Marine innovation: Old ferry becomes underwater fish hotel at Bergen Aquarium

At Bergen Aquarium, you can now experience Norway's first underwater fish hotel in the form of a specially designed jetty. The "hotel" is made from the car deck of an obsolete ferry, thus reducing climate emissions while promoting marine life. A perfect combination of innovation and reuse. 

This new invention has been named SuperDocks, and is developed by Nordic Circles and Norce in Bergen. Hopefully it will help bring life back to our ports. The fish hotel is suitably launched as a pilot project at Bergen Aquarium, where the effect on the fish will be carefully studied by the researchers at Norce.

 Photo: Bergen Aquarium

- When building close to the sea, little consideration has previously been given to life under water. The kelp lacks fertile soil, and the fish lose habitats they can hide from dangers in, etc. This can have enormous consequences for marine life, as it is essential building blocks that affect the entire food chain, explains Håkon Norstrand, head of aquarium biology at Bergen Aquarium.

When the small organisms disappear, the food for the wrasse is removed. If the hiding places for wrasse are removed, predators such as cod, saithe and pike, which have wrasse on their menu, will gradually disappear.

- With Superdocks, the quay front element is constructed with openings and cavities to give the wrasse a shelter for the larger predators. The surfaces are rough, so the kelp will also have a fastening and growth basis. In this sense, new habitats will be added to our coastline, through the reuse of large steel structures from tankers, ferries and oil rigs, says Nordstrand.

Superdocks thus lives up to the ambitions of UN's sustainability goal no. 14 on marine life, where the aim is to preserve and use the sea and marine resources in a way that promotes sustainable development.

Are you interested in news and inspiration related to hosting conventions or events in the Bergen region? Sign up here for our newsletter.