Door een groeiend belang van nieuwe maritieme sectoren neemt de bestuurlijke drukte op zee toe. In dit project is een kwalitatieve scenarioanalyse uitgevoerd om te beschrijven hoe de gebeurtenissen zich in de toekomst kunnen ontvouwen, om risico’s te identificeren en om zo beslissers in staat te stellen over verschillende ontwikkelrichtingen te oor...
This project looked at the effect of closing an area for fisheries on the development of the benthic community. An existing data set of benthic species densities sampled at different distances and angles from a platform was used for this purpose. The particular area was closed due to the installation of a gas production platform, but is likely to f...
Within this study, we quantify the fishing intensity that is allocated at the various sediment- and energy habitats type areas found in the North Sea by selected Dutch bottom fishing vessels. For 2010 traditional beam trawlers and for 2014 pulse trawlers are selected. Trawling frequency, as a measure of impact, equals the surface area covered by th...
On the North Sea bottom lie numerous pipelines to link oil- or gas offshore drilling units, - platforms and processing stations on land. Although pipeline tubes are coated and covered with protective layers, the pipelines risk being damaged through man-made hazards like anchor dropping and fishing activities with bottom trawls. This study provides,...
WWF Netherlands has developed a proposal for a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the North Sea. Most of the MPAs in this network are already protected under the Natura 2000 framework and/or the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. WWF Netherlands aims to engage with stakeholders and build support for this proposed MPA network. One of the ...
Two seal species live in Dutch waters: the harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) and the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus). They occupy land-based sites (haul-outs) in both the Wadden Sea and the Delta region, and move between these regions along the North Sea coastal zone. Human activities, such as construction of a wind farm in this zone, may influence move...
