Wageningen Marine researchers work to repair the coral reefs in the Caribbean. Threats to the coral include pollution and climate change. Still, there are also positive developments. For example, many fish species find a safe breeding ground among the young cultivated coral.
For the Knowledge Network on Fisheries, Pieke Molenaar of Wageningen Marine Research investigated the working of the so-called sieving web on board the shrimp fisher ZK1. The sieving web could be an alternative to the mandatory separator trawl, a panel in the net that prevents unwanted bycatches to leave the net. Test results will have to indicate whether the nets function with similar efficiency.
There is an increasing use of wind energy. Not only on land but also at sea, windmills are installed in offshore wind farms at Egmond aan Zee and IJmuiden. Wageningen University & Research examines the effects of wind farms on fish, seabirds and marine mammals.
During an expedition in Scandinavia, the migration of three Arctic sea bird species was looked at: Arctic Skua, Skua and Red-necked Phalarope (photo). Earlier, a number of birds have been equipped with small geolocators. These data sometimes show spectacular migrations, up to South Argentina and South Africa.
Worldwide, only 13 jellyfish lakes are known. These are located in Palau, Vietnam and Indonesia. Jellyfish lakes are landlocked islands of sea filled with immense populations of the golden-jellyfish Mastigias papua and the moon jelly Aurelia aurita. For the jellyfish lakes in Papua Indonesia, there is no conservation management, despite the fact that these fragile ecosystems are threatened by unregulated tourism and exploitation.
