Spring time in Vestfjorden and pink fields of Raudåte (Calanus finmarchicus) swarm the surface waters. One of the most commonly found species of zooplankton in the subarctic waters of the North Atlantic and a key component in the food web, providing sustenance for a variety of marine organisms including fish, shrimp, and whales.
Calanus finmarchicus is especially important ecologically because it shows rapid responses to climate variability, including shifts in species’ distribution and abundance, timing of life history events, and trophic relationships.
There has been commercial fishing of Raudåte since 2019.