\u00d8resund Aquarium: Surfing a wave of success on the back of a giant tuna<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\u00bbWe\u2019ll see how many times we can cry wolf before it actually happens,\u00ab says aquarium director Jens Peder Jeppesen. He is tired of having to, once again, get the attention of politicians and the media to maintain the aquarium.<\/p>\n
The aquarium was granted a DKK 3 million annual subsidy on the national budget in the period 2022\u20132025. And now they\u2019re back again, cap in hand \u2014 because unless the \u00d8resund Aquarium makes it onto next year’s government budget, it is once more at risk of shutting down.<\/p>\n
\u00bbOur current funding runs out this year, so we\u2019re now trying to give the politicians an early warning,\u00ab says Jens Peder Jeppesen, adding:<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt makes planning so much harder when we can only be certain of our future four years at a time.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Wants permanent support<\/h3>\n
The aquarium director would prefer to see permanent, long-term support for the \u00d8resund Aquarium.<\/p>\n
But this is just wishful thinking at this point, according to Niels Kroer who is head of the Department of Biology which the aquarium unit is a part of.<\/p>\n
Why can\u2019t the Department of Biology or the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) provide a permanent operating subsidy for the aquarium?<\/em><\/p>\n\u00bbRunning a public aquarium is not a part of the university\u2019s core mission. The aquarium does a really great job, but in terms of the university\u2019s core services \u2014 research and teaching \u2014 it is nice to have<\/em>, not need to have<\/em>. This means that if the Department of Biology or UCPH were to give an annual operating subsidy of DKK 3 million, it would be at the expense of our core services,\u00ab says Niels Kroer. He explains that UCPH already covers the aquarium\u2019s rent and utilities.<\/p>\n\u00bbThat\u2019s why the special appropriation on the national budget is necessary for the aquarium\u2019s continued existence,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
For the aquarium to secure permanent support elsewhere, it would have to become an independent, self-owning entity. But that\u2019s in neither the aquarium nor the UCPH interest, according to Niels Kroer:<\/p>\n
\u00bbIf the aquarium were to become self-owning, there\u2019s a risk that the close connection with researchers would be lost. It would also be more expensive for the government, as rent, building maintenance, electricity and so on would then have to be financed via the government grant,\u00ab the department head says.<\/p>\n
Aquarium director Jens Peder Jeppesen agrees that it makes no sense for the aquarium to become a self-owning institution:<\/p>\n
\u00bbWe have a fantastic symbiosis with the Department of Biology and the Marine Biology Section in Helsing\u00f8r. We hope to be included on next year’s government budget. But of course it\u2019s frustrating that we can\u2019t make more long-term plans and have to be in this situation every four years.\u00ab
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The \u00d8resund Aquarium has to fight for its very survival again. This in spite of its most successful years ever<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":167781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\u00d8resund Aquarium under threat of closure \u2014 again \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/oresund-aquarium-under-threat-of-closure-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u00d8resund Aquarium under threat of closure \u2014 again \u2014 University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The \u00d8resund Aquarium has to fight for its very survival again. 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This in spite of its most successful years ever","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>When the University Post went on a tuna safari with the \u00d8resund Aquarium in the autumn of 2024, we could report that the aquarium was riding a wave of success.<\/p>\n<p>Giant, leaping tuna returned to the \u00d8resund strait a few years ago after more than 60 years of absence, and in recent years they have attracted thousands of people to the aquarium’s popular tuna safaris.<\/p>\n<p>The public success followed several years during which the aquarium in Helsing\u00f8r \u2014 a University of Copenhagen (UCPH) unit \u2014 was under threat of closure. This was until it was added to the government budget in 2018. Now trouble is brewing yet again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/oresund-aquarium-surfing-a-wave-of-success-on-the-back-of-a-bluefin-tuna\/\">\u00d8resund Aquarium: Surfing a wave of success on the back of a giant tuna<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe\u2019ll see how many times we can cry wolf before it actually happens,\u00ab says aquarium director Jens Peder Jeppesen. He is tired of having to, once again, get the attention of politicians and the media to maintain the aquarium.<\/p>\n<p>The aquarium was granted a DKK 3 million annual subsidy on the national budget in the period 2022\u20132025. And now they\u2019re back again, cap in hand \u2014 because unless the \u00d8resund Aquarium makes it onto next year’s government budget, it is once more at risk of shutting down.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbOur current funding runs out this year, so we\u2019re now trying to give the politicians an early warning,\u00ab says Jens Peder Jeppesen, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt makes planning so much harder when we can only be certain of our future four years at a time.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Wants permanent support<\/h3>\n<p>The aquarium director would prefer to see permanent, long-term support for the \u00d8resund Aquarium.<\/p>\n<p>But this is just wishful thinking at this point, according to Niels Kroer who is head of the Department of Biology which the aquarium unit is a part of.<\/p>\n<p><em>Why can\u2019t the Department of Biology or the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) provide a permanent operating subsidy for the aquarium?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00bbRunning a public aquarium is not a part of the university\u2019s core mission. The aquarium does a really great job, but in terms of the university\u2019s core services \u2014 research and teaching \u2014 it is <em>nice to have<\/em>, not <em>need to have<\/em>. This means that if the Department of Biology or UCPH were to give an annual operating subsidy of DKK 3 million, it would be at the expense of our core services,\u00ab says Niels Kroer. He explains that UCPH already covers the aquarium\u2019s rent and utilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThat\u2019s why the special appropriation on the national budget is necessary for the aquarium\u2019s continued existence,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<p>For the aquarium to secure permanent support elsewhere, it would have to become an independent, self-owning entity. But that\u2019s in neither the aquarium nor the UCPH interest, according to Niels Kroer:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf the aquarium were to become self-owning, there\u2019s a risk that the close connection with researchers would be lost. It would also be more expensive for the government, as rent, building maintenance, electricity and so on would then have to be financed via the government grant,\u00ab the department head says.<\/p>\n<p>Aquarium director Jens Peder Jeppesen agrees that it makes no sense for the aquarium to become a self-owning institution:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe have a fantastic symbiosis with the Department of Biology and the Marine Biology Section in Helsing\u00f8r. We hope to be included on next year’s government budget. But of course it\u2019s frustrating that we can\u2019t make more long-term plans and have to be in this situation every four years.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":174997,"id":174997,"title":"tunispringioeresundd.17.august2024fotografbettinapedersen","filename":"tunispringioeresundd.17.august2024fotografbettinapedersen.jpg","filesize":285937,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/tunispringioeresundd.17.august2024fotografbettinapedersen.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/oeresundsakvariet-lukningstruet-igen\/tunispringioeresundd-17-august2024fotografbettinapedersen\/","alt":"","author":"99","description":"","caption":"S\u00e5dan ser det ud, n\u00e5r de k\u00e6mpem\u00e6ssige tun springer. 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