We’re literally not working with fish, but rather with data. In the course of our monitoring- and research activities we collect some extremely valuable long-term datasets.

Among these are data on the occurrence of fish species (abundance, weight) achieved from catches during regularly conducted research surveys. For most of these catches, we have detailed accessory data on physical environmental parameters such as temperature salinity and oxygen content. For thousands of fish, age and biometric parameters are determined and all these data are stored in the institute’s databases.

You will find an inventory of the data available on this page in due course. Most of the regularly collected data are transferred to national and international organisations and into their databases, following the verification process. Many of the data sets are already online accessible, e.g. at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES Data Centre), or at the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH, German Hydrographic Data Centre)

The use of data is regulated by the data policies of these organisations. Data not available there can be requested at the Thünen-Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries; retention periods and specific conditions may apply. Please send data requests to of@thuenen.de.

We can’t provide data on catches of the German commercial fishery, specifically Logbook-, landings- and Vessel Monitoring System data. This information is held by the German fishery control authority, the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food in Hamburg and Bonn.