Aim
Our aim is for local fishermen and scientists to work together to jointly manage a sustainable brown shrimp fishery in the Wadden Sea.
Summary
To read a quick one page summary of the case study, its aims and achievements please click here.
Images
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Hallig Hooge
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Port entrance of Hallig Hooge (c) Kai Watjen
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At the end of the day
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Neuharlingersiel Harbour (c) Nils Koschnick
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Wadden Sea buoy
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(c) Nils Koschnick
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CT Data Logger
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(c) Sina Loeschke
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Fishing vessel communication box
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(c) Sina Loeschke
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An aerial view of the Wadden Sea
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(c) AWI
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Trawling the Wadden Sea
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Beam trawler (c) AWI
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Wadden Sea
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(c) Nils Koschnick
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Captain driving POLARIS
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Uwe Abken (c) Nils Koschnick
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Feeling queasy?!
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Scientists aboard POLARIS (c) Nils Koschnick
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Overseeing the landings
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D. dell Missier onboard DE LIEKEDEELERS (c) Kai Watjen
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Neuharlingersiel Harbour
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(c) Nils Koschnick
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Captain of POLARIS checking the gear
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Uwe Abken (c) Sina Loeschke
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Captain taking a break
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Uwe Abken (c) Sina Loeschke
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Captain of the ship!
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Uwe Abken (c) Sina Loeschke
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Oblivious to a beautiful rainbow
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Captain of POLARIS, Uwe Abken (c) Sina Loeschke
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The Catch
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Brown shrimp (c) Sina Loeschke
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Scientist at work
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(c) Sina Loeschke
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After a day's fishing
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POLARIS (c) Sina Loeschke
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After a day's fishing
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POLARIS in harbour (c) Sina Loeschke
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After a day's fishing
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POLARIS in Neuharlingersiel Harbour (c) Sina Loeschke
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Nets drying in the harbour
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Neuharlingersiel Harbour (c) Sina Loeschke
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Beam trawlers in Neuharlingersiel Harbour
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(c) Sina Loeschke
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Neuharlingersiel Harbour
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(c) Sina Loeschke
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Full net
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Bringing the catch aboard (c) Sina Loeschke
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Darkening skies
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Beam trawl net (c) Sina Loeschke
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Still working hard
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POLARIS fisherman Daniel Ahrens (c) Sina Loeschke
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Operating the beam trawl net
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Shrimp fisherman Daniel Ahrens (c) Sina Loeschke
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Bycatch
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Shrimp fisherman Daniel Ahrens (c) Sina Loeschke
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Not a dry job
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Shrimp fisherman Daniel Ahrens (c) Sina Loeschke
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Studying shrimp
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POLARIS fisherman works with scientist (c) Sina Loeschke
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Chatting over shrimp
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Fishing aboard POLARIS (c) Sina Loeschke
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Catch of the day
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Brown shrimp (c) Sina Loeschke
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Trawling the Wadden Sea
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Beam trawler net (c) Sina Loeschke
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Hard at work
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Analysis in the lab © Sina Loeschke
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More unwanted visitors
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Seagulls aboard POLARIS (c) Sina Loeschke
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Working together (c) Miriam Seifert
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Winter in the Wadden Sea
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Winter in Hooge
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Twaite shad
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A bycatch species in the Germany case study on the Wadden Sea.
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Sea trout, a bycatch species
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Sea bass, an important bycatch species
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Scientists and fishermen working together.
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Kai Wätjen working with one of the fishermen involved in the German case study.
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Hallig Hooge in winter
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Fixing the data logger
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De Liekedeelers on ice
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Cliff perch, an important bycatch species
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Camera crew from local TV channel
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Unwanted visitor
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A seagull hitching a ride aboard POLARIS (c) Sina Loeschke
Our progress so far…
Brown shrimp is an important species for the local fishermen, but bycatch is making fishers’ livelihoods difficult. Bycatch covers a range of species from juvenile plaice, herring and sprat, to rare and migrant species important to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, e.g. salmon and lampreys.
But monitoring bycatch and working out how to avoid it will make the fishery more viable, both environmentally and economically.
So fishermen are collaborating with scientists to collect data about both their target species, brown shrimp, as well as by-catch species.This data will be used to:
- investigate disease within the brown shrimp population
- create a species inventory for the area, and
- provide an open-access database for local fishermen.
Our progress so far in working together to collect this important data is outlined below:
Next Steps
Over the next few months, we’re hoping to recruit some more fishermen into the project. We currently have two fishermen “signed up”, but if we want to cover the whole of the Wadden Sea, we will need to involve at least 6 vessels.
German TV networks have produced two 3-4 minute films aboard the trawler POLARIS about our case study. You can watch them here:
People Involved
Kai Wätjen
Lead Researcher on case study
- Kai is a biologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.
- His research interests include brown shrimp fisheries, the impact of fisheries, the ecology and distribution of North Sea fishes and the effects of climate change on the marine fauna of the Wadden Sea.
- Email: kai.waetjen@awi.de
Uwe Abken
Fishermen involved in GAP2
- Uwe is captain and owner of the shrimp vessel POLARIS.
- He has been fishing for the past 15 years, since the age of 35.
- He is a member of both the “Landesfischereiverband Weser-Ems” and the producer organisation, German Shrimp Fishers Ltd. (Erzeugergemeinschaft der Deutschen Krabbenfischer GmbH).
Daniel Ahrends
Fishermen involved in GAP2
- Daniel is 33 years old, a fisherman and captain.
- Daniel has been fishing since 16 years old.
- He too is a member of the “Landesfischereiverband Weser-Ems” and the producer organisation GmbH).
Stakeholder Participants
- Cooperative of Neuharlingersiel and Association of small deep-sea and inshore fisheries within the national fishery association Weser-Ems e. V, Lower-Saxony
- North Sea Regional Advisory Council
Background
This ergoTOP project aims to improve energy efficiency in coastal fisheries, where fishermen currently pay up to 25% of their turnover for fuel. A short film about the project can be viewed below or by visiting http://vimeo.com/37162813.
Resources
Fisher catch survey
Information to help fishermen identify Salmon (in German)
Information to help fishermen identify Shad (in German)
Shrimp Fishery in the Wadden Sea Case Study Overview