In UFOTriNet, an intelligent underwater test network of innovative stationary and mobile UFO units is being developed with the aim of automatically and continuously monitoring the diversity and abundance of fish populations and their environment.

The wish for an ecosystem based fisheries managment is omnipresent. However, potential approaches still lack implementation in Europe. In the project SEAwise we want to change this.

What happens to habitats and communities when commercial fishing stops? This important but largely unanswered question is the focus of this research project.

In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence has increased massively in various disciplines. Can this technology also be applied in fisheries science? This question is to be clarified in a PhD project.

The Atlantic herring is one of the commercially most important species – also in the North Sea fishery. Fisheries management must lead to sustainable utilization of the stock, to protect it for succeeding generations.

Age composition data for fish stocks are essential input parameters for stock assessment. It is therefore necessary to permanently develop age determination methodology further.

The project aims at a better understanding of the relationship between fisheries and population dynamics of fish stocks in order to better predict and justify the necessity of fleet capacity adjustment measures

The Data Collection Framework (DCF), co-funded by the EU, allows Member States to collect fisheries data relevant for the sustainable management of fish stocks.

Brown shrimp fishery is from the economic point of view the most important fishery in Germany. Our research aims to develop a sustainable and ecologically sound fishery.

How many herring larvae are hatching annually? The Thünen-Institute of Sea Fisheries estimate their number in annual research surveys. For example, we use this informationas an indicator of the spawning stock biomass of North Sea autumn spawning herring.

The shallow waters of the German Bight and Wadden Sea serve as nursery grounds for several commercially important fish species. Annual abundance and growth assessments of youngfish allow for a first indication of the level of incoming catches in future years.

As contracting party of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and EU Member State, Germany is obliged to submit national data to the scientific fish stock assessment working groups of ICES and other European organisations.

Blue Growth is a buzz word known to many people. But how can blue growth be achieved for european fisheries in a sustainable way? The Project Pandora tries to find answers.

Data on population parameters of pelagic fish stocks (herring, mackerel, horse mackerel, blue whiting and sprat) in the North Sea and North Atlantic are combined with catch records and landings statistics and provide input for the fish stock assessments of ICES. The results of these calculations serve as a basis for sustainable fisheries management.

Why does fisheries managment sometimes fail? Conduction of risk analyses on various aspects of fisheries management can help to answer this question.

Climate change, declining fishing pressure, and reduced nutrient inputs are shifting structure and functions in the ecosystem of the southern North Sea. In BioWeb, we explore the links between these environmental and land-use changes and trends in biodiversity.

This research activity will enhance multi-species models (improved diet selection models and recruitment models) to enable best possible projections of stocks developments. This will contribute to a sustainable harvest of fish stocks inside an ecosystem approach. Not only fisheries influence fish stocks but also predation and other environmental factors.

Knowledge on the strength of the recruiting year class of a fish stock is of tremendous importance for sustainable mangement. Successful reproduction and foraging of fry are of essential importance for the further development of the stock.

In implementing the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the EU Commission obtains scientific advice and awards individual specific contracts (studies). For this purpose, the EU Commission has concluded a framework contract with two large project consortia, covering topics for the Baltic and North Sea and the North Atlantic (SANoBA), but also other EU waters in the North-East Atlantic and outer regions such as Madeira or the Azores (SAF EU).

The objective of the joint AutoMAt project is to either replace, complement or modernize part of the conventional data collection and analysis procedures in the fields of fisheries biology and ecology through inventing and implementing alternative, automated systems.

The main aim of this project is to build a constructive network between all institutions that are responsible for monitoring in the North and Celtic Seas, concerning both fisheries and environmental monitoring.

Optimsation of the selectivity and reduction of by-catches are in the focus of this project.

Data for a full analytical assessment are not available for all stocks. We try to answer the question how a sustainable exploitation can be guaranteed in these cases as well.

A lot of effort is put each year into the management of commercially important target stocks. The focus in Probyfish, however, is on bycatch stocks which also have to be managed sustainably.

One main goal of the European fisheries policy is to harvest all fish stocks with a fishing mortality in accordance with the MSY concept (Fmsy) in 2015 at latest. However, because of predator-prey interactions and bycatch in mixed fisheries, Fmsy as defined in the current single species context cannot be achieved for all species simultaneously. MYFISH will define MSY in accordance with the ecosystem approach and helps to develope multi-species management plans. These plans will ensure a sustainable exploitation but also take into account economic and social aspects.

Fish are an integral part of the ecosystem and it transfers energy via "top-down" and/or "bottom-up" processes through the food web. Fundamental knowledge about essential processes and the functioning of food webs is still missing and hampers the implementation of effective protection measures for fish.

All neighbouring European Member States along the North Sea and North Atlantic are collecting biological data in the fisheries sector. In order to strengthen cooperation in fisheries sampling, we develop scenarios for sensible planning and conduction of biological data collection within these regions, based on case studies.

How organic residues on ear stones help us to discriminate between different redfish stocks.

The German brown shrimp fishery got a sustainability certificate (MSC ecolabel) since 2017. Unlike other fisheries that are subject to a management plan of the European Union, the prerequisite for the MSC ecolabel is an internal self-management of the shrimp fishery. The CranMan project aims at creating the scientific basis to accompany and improve the self-management of the shrimp fishery.

The aim of the project is to improve the data basis for multi species and ecosystem models. Predator-prey relationships are an important driver of fish population dynamics.

The European seas undergo significant changes. These are caused by multiple vectors of change. Within the VECTORS project, we seek to identify the causal mechanisms and consequences of those changes in our marine ecosystems.

The East Greenland ecosystem has been influenced by warming in the North Atlantic in recent years. As a consequence, there were distinct changes in the distribution and composition of the fish fauna in this area. The aim of this project is to investigate the functional relationships of climatic and biological changes and to estimate their impact on the fish stocks, fishing and fisheries management.

This project will synthesize exisiting scientific knowledge as baisis for better management of the brown shrimp fishery in the North Sea.