Amanda Dahl studied Sea and Society - now she works with aquaculture and fishing

What do you work with?

“I work as a county fishing consultant at the County Administrative Board in Västra Götaland, Sweden, where I work with matters concerning fishing and aquaculture. If someone had asked me a year ago, I would never have answered "aquaculture and fishing". But now I think it's very interesting!”

What do you do on a typical day?

“It varies! I’m part of many different working groups depending on focus: aquaculture or fishing. For example, I handle matters concerning permits for mussel and oyster farms on the Swedish West Coast. Together with other departments and units within the board, my unit also handles all watercourses and lakes in Västra Götaland. It's a lot of paper work, but we plan to do more field work, and that’ll be great fun. For example, we have just started a project where we’re going to biotope map coastal estuaries in agricultural landscapes to restore watercourses and create a better living environment for sea trout.”

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What do you like the most about your job

“Right now, I'm very focused on aquaculture. It’s an exciting area that’s continuously developing with both cultivations and research projects on algae and oysters, for example."

How did you get this job?

“I did my internship at the Marine Planning unit at the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management. Through the internship, I was introduced to the efforts to make a common strategy for fishing. In my degree project, I reviewed the participant's decision-making process in developing action plans for aquaculture, commercial fishing, recreational fishing, and fishing tourism. When a job as a county fishing consultant appeared I applied, and I think I got the position thanks to my degree project.”

Why did you want to study Sea and Society?

“I first studied an interdisciplinary environmental science programme where environmental policy and environmental studies was on the agenda. After that, I went to Greece via an ERASMUS exchange, and that was when I fell in love with the ocean! I understood that I wanted to work with the conservation of aquatic environments, so the master's programme in Sea and Society was perfect. An interdisciplinary programme on how society and the sea affect each other - I wanted to study that!”

Do you have any tips for new students?

“Join in on all excursions and take the opportunity to ask questions to the lecturers. They have such great knowledge, and it’s good to make a large network of contacts.”

Interview: Annika Wall