North Sea coastal zone

Fish morphology, age and physiology; Fish taxonomy-related abundance per unit area of the bed; Shellfish abundance and biomass in water bodies; Zoobenthos taxonomy-related counts; Raw temperature and/or salinity instrument output; Fish taxonomy-related counts; Fish biomass in water bodies

Balances and scales; rulers; CTD; beam trawls

The main purpose of this sampling was to study the effects of the OWEZ windpark on the demersal fish community. Because before installation of the windfarm the main fisheries activity in the area was bottom trawling, it is expected that exclusion of fisheries in the wind farm has the largest effect on the demersal fish community. The wind farm and its safety zone could function as a refugium for these species. If the area functions as a refugium this could be the case for a large number of demersal fish species that occur in the Dutch coastal zone. Owing to this a positive effect of the wind farm on the demersal fish community was expected. The fisheries that occurred in the area targeted larger fish, therefore fisheries mortality was higher on the larger fish. By excluding fisheries in the farm it was expected to change the size distribution in the farm and by that the age distribution of the fish populations. A Hydrolab minisonde, attached to the net, was used for continuous CTD measurements.

Wageningen Marine Research, IJmuiden
Haringkade 1
IJmuiden

1976 CP
Netherlands