A visitor that has come to stay? The case of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Norway

This thesis is dedicated to the case of the pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Norway. The pink salmon has a large native range and is indigenous to regions of the Pacific Ocean. It was deliberately introduced into rivers that drained into the White Sea by the Soviet Union. This was done through several attempts reaching from 1957 to 2001. These attempts resulted in secondary expansion to the Northern Atlantic and the Barents Sea. The pink salmon demonstrated a high ability to disperse but did not show signs of establishment. Low amount of pink salmon has been observed in the following decades after the attempts of introduction. This remained the case until a sudden and rapid change in 2017. In 2017, pink salmon were observed and caught in over 200 rivers in Norway. Several other countries in northern Europe also experienced an increase in the abundance of spawning pink salmon, but Norway had the highest increase. The pink salmon has distinct groups of odd year- and even year broodlines. The odd year broodline appears to be the strongest, which is further supported by the high amount of pink salmon in 2019. Alien species are considered as the second biggest threat to biological diversity by the Norwegian government (regjeringen.no). Alien species are to be managed in accordance with national legislation and international agreements. The thesis aim is to ascertain whether the pink salmon has come to Norway to stay based on the properties of the management system and the unique biological characteristics of the pink salmon. Challenges are identified and assessed by acquiring an overview of the management system and the pink salmon itself. This thesis has a multidisciplinary approach, because there are several aspects of the case that can determine the outcome. Keywords: Alien species, Alien invasive species, Norwegian management system, risk management, implementation theory, conservation biolog

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries(1,2). However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world(3) and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health(4,5). However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol-which is a marker of cardiovascular riskchanged from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million-4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.Peer reviewe

A visitor that has come to stay? The case of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Norway

This thesis is dedicated to the case of the pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Norway. The pink salmon has a large native range and is indigenous to regions of the Pacific Ocean. It was deliberately introduced into rivers that drained into the White Sea by the Soviet Union. This was done through several attempts reaching from 1957 to 2001. These attempts resulted in secondary expansion to the Northern Atlantic and the Barents Sea. The pink salmon demonstrated a high ability to disperse but did not show signs of establishment. Low amount of pink salmon has been observed in the following decades after the attempts of introduction. This remained the case until a sudden and rapid change in 2017. In 2017, pink salmon were observed and caught in over 200 rivers in Norway. Several other countries in northern Europe also experienced an increase in the abundance of spawning pink salmon, but Norway had the highest increase. The pink salmon has distinct groups of odd year- and even year broodlines. The odd year broodline appears to be the strongest, which is further supported by the high amount of pink salmon in 2019. Alien species are considered as the second biggest threat to biological diversity by the Norwegian government (regjeringen.no). Alien species are to be managed in accordance with national legislation and international agreements. The thesis aim is to ascertain whether the pink salmon has come to Norway to stay based on the properties of the management system and the unique biological characteristics of the pink salmon. Challenges are identified and assessed by acquiring an overview of the management system and the pink salmon itself. This thesis has a multidisciplinary approach, because there are several aspects of the case that can determine the outcome. Keywords: Alien species, Alien invasive species, Norwegian management system, risk management, implementation theory, conservation biolog