Spatial use & habitats

The North Sea ecosystem is under great pressure. There are various types of fisheries, wind turbine parks are being built, and sand is being extracted for coastal defences and other purposes. To predict or study these forms of use, it is necessary to understand the spatial use of the sea by fish, birds and marine mammals. Important questions are: Where do the animals reproduce? Which areas are used by juvenile fish? Where do the animals forage?

By combining various types of expertise, IMARES can draw conclusions about the effects of spatial use. 

Governance and management of marine resources
Sustainable management of living marine resources is just getting started, certainly when compared to terrestrial management. The fundamental differences between land and sea require a different approach. The processes of globalisation and increasing mobility are resulting in new challenges to governance processes and arrangements – for public and private actors alike. Specific research into the governance and management of human activities at sea is therefore essential, including both evaluative research (what is there and how well does it work?) and design-oriented research.
Priorities within this theme include: governance of economic chains, implementation and monitoring of marine policy, living on the saline margins of the sea and economic analyses for ecological management.

The research topics include integral management of the North Sea, marine nature policy, globalisation and mobility of economic activities, responsibility in transnational chains, data collection and use, international treaties for fishery management, network governance versus state governance, economic valuation of biodiversity and fisheries, and economic analysis of agriculture on saline soils.