Comparative analysis of bottom trawl and nanopore sequencing in fish biodiversity assessment: The sylt outer reef example.

The assessment of fish diversity is crucial for effective conservation and management strategies, especially in ecologically sensitive regions such as marine protected areas. This study contrasts the effectiveness of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding analysis employing Nanopore technology with compare beam trawl surveys at the Sylt Outer Reef, a Natura 2000 site in the North Sea, Germany. Out of the 17 fish species caught in a bottom trawl (using a 3m beam trawl), 14 were also identified through eDNA extracted from water samples.

Thresholds of seascape fauna composition along gradients of human pressures and natural conditions to inform marine spatial planning.

Knowledge about the cumulative impacts of anthropogenic activities and environmental conditions on marine ecosystems is incomplete and details are lacking. Compositional community changes can occur along gradients, and community data can be used to assess the state of community resilience against combined impacts of variables representing human pressures and environmental conditions. Here we use a machine learning approach, i.

Sustainable co-location solutions for offshore wind farms and fisheries need to account for socio-ecological trade-offs.

The spatial expansion of offshore wind farms (OWFs) is key for the transition to a carbon free energy sector. In the North Sea, the sprawl of OWFs is regulated by marine spatial planning (MSP) and results in an increasing loss of space for other sectors such as fisheries. Understanding fisheries benefits of OWFs and mitigating the loss of fishing grounds is key for co-location solutions in MSP.

Spatiotemporal accumulation of fatal pharyngeal entrapment of flatfish in harbour porpoises () in the German North Sea.

The evolution of a permanent separation of the upper respiratory and digestive tract is one of the adaptions cetaceans evolved for their aquatic life. Generally, it prevents odontocetes from choking on either saltwater or foreign bodies during ingestion under water. Nevertheless, several sporadic single case reports from different parts of the world show that this separation can be reversed especially by overly large items of prey.

Genetic analyses reveal complex dynamics within a marine fish management area.

Genetic data have great potential for improving fisheries management by identifying the fundamental management units-that is, the biological populations-and their mixing. However, so far, the number of practical cases of marine fisheries management using genetics has been limited. Here, we used Atlantic cod in the Baltic Sea to demonstrate the applicability of genetics to a complex management scenario involving mixing of two genetically divergent populations.