Duration:  24 March bis 11 April 2025

Cruise area:  North Sea (commercial fishing areas in Germany)

Purpose:  Technical fishing trials for the North Sea shrimp fishery

The development and testing of efficient and selective fishing gear is an important management strategy to ensure sustainable fisheries. In the German shrimp fishery for North Sea prawns, bycatch of unwanted species has long been a problem that has led to the development of selective solutions in recent decades. Research in this area has so far focused on the use of devices that exclude bycatch and further optimize size and species selectivity.

In the German shrimp fishery in the Wadden Sea, influences such as climate change are leading to new scenarios that are reflected, among other things, in lower catches of the target species. It is therefore crucial to continue developing technological solutions that can overcome current and future challenges for sustainable fishing.

As part of the „Innovationsprogramm Krabbenfischerei Schleswig-Holstein“, fishermen from Schleswig-Holstein have developed and tested new trawl designs. The Thünen Institute accompanied this project as a partner. Further research and development work will now be carried out during the 846th cruise of the SOLEA. With its equipment for the use of beam trawls and its many years of experience in the German shrimp fishery, the ship represents the ideal research platform.