DAM Pilot Missions

Research and discussions on the impact of bottom trawling in protected areas of the North Sea and Baltic Sea

Berlin, 10 November 2020  As part of the research mission “Protection and Sustainable Use of Marine Areas” of the German Marine Research Alliance (Deutsche Allianz Meeresforschung, DAM), two pilot missions have been under way since March 2020 to study and assess the effects of fishing on marine protected areas in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Specifically, this involves so-called mobile bottom contact-fishing, in which bottom trawls and beam trawls are used to catch demersal (bottom-dwelling) fish such as plaice, sole, cod and shrimp.

These fishing methods have a significant impact on the seabed and the benthic communities living there. For this reason, mobile bottom contact-fishing is to be excluded in the coming years, at least from parts of the German and European marine protected areas. Within the framework of the European common fisheries policy, negotiations are currently taking place at an EU level and in consultation with neighbouring countries.

The two DAM pilot missions now offer a unique opportunity to see how benthic habitats that are strongly impacted by human activities will develop in future without trawling. The results will provide an important basis for the future management of the protected areas. The first research voyages being conducted as part of the pilot missions have been taking place in the North Sea and Baltic Sea since May. The next Baltic Sea expedition is planned for January, followed by North Sea expeditions in April.

The online kick-off event launching the pilot missions will be attended by speakers and panel guests from public authorities, politics, business, science and civil society, who will discuss the challenges of sustainable fisheries and use of the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the kick-off event will be a digital event.

You are hereby cordially invited to attend the online kick-off event on 30 November.

When: Monday, 30 November 2020 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Where: Online (you will receive the link to the digital venue by e-mail)

PROGRAM (in German only)

3:00 p.m.
Welcoming Statements
~ Bettina Martin, Minister of Education, Science and Culture for Mecklenburg-West Pomerania
~ Volker Rieke, Director General, Federal Ministry of Education and Research
~ Christiane Paulus, Director General, Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

Short film “OZEANEUM Stralsund – Underwater Worlds” of the German Oceanographic Museum

Speeches
~ Karin Lochte, Board Member, German Marine Research Alliance (DAM), on the objectives and tasks of the DAM
~ Ulrich Bathmann, Director of the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Warnemünde (IOW), on the research mission “Protection and Sustainable Use of the Oceans”

Break (5 min)

Panel discussions
Social relevance and background of the pilot missions
~ Klaus Jürgens, Deputy Head of the Department Biological Oceanography at the IOW and Project Manager of the Pilot Mission Baltic Sea
~ Britta Knefelkamp, Head of the Department II 3 Marine Nature Conservation, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)
~ Karen Wiltshire, Deputy Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and Project Manager of the Pilot Mission North Sea

Chair: Gesine Meißner, Member of the Mission Board for Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters of the European Commission

Protection and opportunities for sustainable use
~ Peter Breckling, Secretary General of the German Fisheries Association
~ Heike Vesper, Head of the Marine Program at WWF Germany
~ Christopher Zimmermann, Director of the Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries

Chair: Gesine Meißner, Member of the Mission Board for Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters of the European Commission

4:30 p.m. End of the event

As at: 9 November 2020

The pilot missions on mobile bottom fishing in the North Sea and Baltic Sea

The pilot missions are scheduled to last 3 years (1.3.2020 to 28.2.2023). The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) will be in charge of the project management for the pilot mission “MGF North Sea” (“MGF” stands for “mobile grundberührende Fischerei“, i.e. mobile bottom-contact fishing), while the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) will be in charge of the project management for the pilot mission “MGF Baltic Sea”. The pilot missions are being conducted in close cooperation with the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and both are part of the planned research mission “Protection and Sustainable Use of Marine Areas”. Within this setting, the DAM is working with its member institutions and bringing in stakeholders from public authorities, policy-development, business and civil society to establish science-based courses of action for decision-makers.

Further information

dam-website.blee.ch/dam-pilotmissionen
www.mgf-nordsee.de
www.io-warnemuende.de/dam-mgf-ostsee-start.html

Press photo for editorial coverage download

Registration

Please register at the latest by Friday, 27 November at 3 p.m. by sending an e-mail to presse(at)deutsche-meeresforschung.de

You will receive an e-mail with the link to the digital event.

Press contacts:

German Marine Research Alliance (DAM)
Eva Söderman
Head of Press and Public Relations / Political Communication
Markgrafenstraße 37 | D-10117 Berlin
Phone +49 (0)30 804 945 66
soederman(at)deutsche-meeresforschung.de
dam-website.blee.ch/en

Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Sebastian Grote
Head of Communications and Media
An der Neuen Schleuse 32 | D-27570 Bremerhaven
Phone +49 (0)471 4831-2006
medien(at)awi.de
https://www.awi.de/en

Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Warnemünde (IOW)
Dr. Kristin Beck
Press and Public Relations
Seestr.15 | D-18119 Rostock
Phone +49 (0)381 5197 135
kristin.beck(at)io-warnemuende.de
www.io-warnemuende.de

Header photo: Crab fishing for research; Photo: Alfred Wegener Institute / S. Löschke