Operastranda now under the control of Lurven

A freediver dressed and eager MDG leader, Arild Hermstad, walks towards Oslo’s year-and-a-half-old Operastrand. The hope is to spot a lobster, fish or other living thing. The MDG leader has Fredrik Myhre, head of the WWF World Wide Fund for Nature’s ocean team, with him to show him around.

– There wasn’t much life here, says Hermstad after a while.

– No, here it’s just crap and shit. And one starfish that is not happy. It is precisely the slush that is one of the main problems in the Oslo Fjord. It spreads quickly and takes over seaweed, kelp, eelgrass and most other things, says Myhre.

Against collapse

Oslofjorden is on sick leave. It is suffocating slowly but surely. The main problems in the fjord are pee from people and runoff from agriculture.

– The Oslofjord shows that we have both a natural crisis and a climate crisis. Since 1980, the surface temperature has risen by one degree. The cod is virtually gone, just like the shoals, with huge mackerel sturgeons, marine mammals, lobsters – and the commercial fishermen. Conservation of nature is one of the most important keys to getting life back. In addition to the fact that we have to deal properly with one of the main problems: Reduce run-off from agriculture and sewage, says Fredrik Myhre.

Oslofjord worst in Scandinavia

The MDG leader nods.

– And then we want to employ Norway’s first sea gardener here. Who can plant out eelgrass and repair. But also be involved in developing the fjord – and create value, says Hermstad.

Hermstad thinks the gardener can collaborate with various organizations that work with the Oslofjord. In the long term, he hopes that there can be sea gardeners all along the coast.

– A marine gardener can give us the experience and knowledge we need. We have had an artificial separation between nature, water and sea. And thought that the sea is infinite, mysterious and strange. But the sea is the basis for all life – and is now in the process of collapsing. We have to do something about that before it’s too late, says Hermstad.

– No time to wait

Red shark lay eggs

Hermstad and Myhre freedive along the Opera and outside the Opera beach for an hour. Visibility is lousy and the slimy dark-brown-green slush doesn’t help.

– In here, there is a lot of fur and little life, repeats Hermstad.

– It has not been long since the sandy beaches were opened. In the short time, the fur has taken over. It suffocates seaweed, kelp and eelgrass and grows everywhere, says Myhre.

Fortunately, there is life not too far outside the harbor basin. During a previous dive at Bekkelaget, Myhre saw a small-spotted red shark laying eggs close by.

Plant eelgrass

Planting in the fjord is already just beginning: Oslo municipality started last summer planting of eelgrass at Gressholmen and Frognerkilen in inner Oslofjord. The hope is to restore and re-establish eelgrass beds on the seabed, which store a lot of carbon and create life and oxygen in the fjord.

– Winter is the real acid test of whether the eelgrass planting works. But we have done the same in Sweden for ten years. The plants have survived and spread in some places. Elsewhere not, says Eduardo Infantes, marine biologist, to Dagbladet.

Infantes has been involved in eelgrass planting in both Sweden and Norway.

– The results from Sweden are really positive, where we have managed to restore from approximately zero to over one hectare of eelgrass. We haven’t had time to measure the effects yet, but we assume that there will be more biodiversity there. Less sand and more species, he says and continues:

– Imagine a desert and a forest. The eel grass is like an underwater forest, which means that other good things also come, he says.

According to Infantes, the eelgrass project in Sweden has been so good that you can almost see that the sea areas have become healthier.

– Yes, in Sweden you see the bottom when you bathe. In the Oslofjord, you don’t do that. It’s green, and that says a lot, he says.

Infantes thinks the idea of ​​having a sea gardener for the Oslo Fjord is a good one.

– If a person is employed to take care of the lake, it is always positive. But it is important that it is done in the right way. The person must have a scientific background and know what they are doing, he says.

The state must contribute more

Hermstad and Myhre emerge from the harbor basin by the Opera. They are both strongly linked to the wet element, and yearn for a fresher fjord.

– There is no doubt that we have reached the tipping point when it comes to the Oslofjord, says Hermstad.

– But luckily it’s not too late. We have knowledge of the problems and the action plan for the Oslofjord was good. The problem is that it lacks enough political follow-up, says Myhre.

MDG-Hermstad says that “the cost of overcoming sewage and agricultural runoff is enormous, and must be a collaboration between state and municipality”.

– The state in particular must do far more than today. It must be done now. The cost becomes even greater when the ecosystem is completely destroyed, he says.

– The best investment in the future is to invest in taking care of nature. An underwater gardener is one of many smart measures, says Myhre.

Meet the Oslofjord’s only cod