News und Events

LECTURE SERIES

From 29.03.2023, every Wednesday at 19:00 h, you can join us for a public online lecture, courtesy of Hamburg University. A wide range of new and fascinating facts and stories from the sustainMare research mission.
However, please note that the lectures are in German! link to HH University

News from sustainMare

There is a lot to report from the sustainMare research mission. Here at News & Events, reports of the individual projects and important events of the mission are presented. Our aim is is to bring more transparency to the research project and thus reflect the work to the general public. This is very important for us, as we want to develop versatile innovations for the protection and sustainable use of the oceans and make know-how accessible.

Press releases and publications:
Publications

sustainMare goes UN

The research mission has successfully applied to be included in the der UN Oceandecade. sustainMare will be a project in the Decade Programme "smartNet" and work for the UN motto: "The Ocean we need for the future we want "

Mid Term Meeting

From August 30 to September 01, 2023, the sustainMare annual meeting will summarize, present and analyze the preliminra research results. Based on the meeting, the second half of the project will be planned, including preparations for an envisioned II phase.

EU Commission approves protection measures

The time has come. On 16th February 2023, it was officially announced that the
EU Commission has approved the measures to restrict mobile, bottom-contact
fishing in the marine protected areas of the German North Sea. We are excited
to study the future developments in the areas and look forward to interesting
research questions.

CONMAR reaching out to the North Sea

part of a 8.8 cm munition shell © CONMAR

First sampling of fish at outer Jade munition dump sites
According to archive research, enormous amounts of munition (>300 000t, amucad.org) were dumped in the Northern Jade estuary after WWII. Due to ongoing corrosion of the dumped munition, leakage of harmful munition compound to the marine environment is expected. The SOLEA cruise 816, January 16-27 2023 aimed at the historically first sampling of fish (common dab, Limanda limanda) and water samples for munition compounds in close proximity to the North Sea Jade area dumped munition.

Before the start of the cruise, crew members and scientific staff received a briefing from the Lower Saxony explosive ordnance clearance service. Experienced ordnance clearers explained how to deal with munition that might be picked up with bottom beam trawls and left containers for the storage of munition items on board. Due to heavy storm, the start of the cruise from Cuxhaven was delayed by one day. First sampling at Scharhörn reef was complicated by bad weather and half of the scientific staff being seasick. Sampling was continued at the outer Jade region near dumped munition and 30 dabs were successfully investigated and sampled for body fluids (blood, urine, bile) and tissues (liver, spleen, kidney, muscle, gill) for later laboratory chemical analysis for residual munition compounds such as TNT (trinitrotoluene).

Bad weather and technical problems forced the ship to search protection in the harbour of Wilhelmshaven. Due to high professionalism of the crew, the cruise was continued instantly and more sites around the Jade estuary and further west along the German coast up to the Ems estuary were sampled. On the way back to Cuxhaven, last sampling in the Jade estuary yielded a corroded chunk of munition, the bottom part of a 8.8 cm munition shell which contained residuals of the propellant, indicating the it was a dumped (not discharged) munition item (pic). Visible inspection of fish for diseases on board did not reveal any obvious health issues of dab collected near munition dump sites in comparison with control sites without dumped munition. Samples from water and fish were transferred to participating laboratories (AWI, GEOMAR, UKSH, Thünen) and are currently processed for chemical analysis of potential residual munition compounds. Laboratory analysis will reveal if and to which extend fish are contaminated with munition compounds. more info at the CONMAR website

New book chapter on transdisziplinary Research by SpaCeParti

The multifaceted picture of transdisciplinarity in marine reseach
Transdisciplinary research is a growing field in academia, yet, there still is no uniform definition. The interdisciplinary team of the Center for Ocean and Society addresses this in the new publication.
Often, transdisciplinary research is contrasted to disciplinary, multi- and interdisciplinary research: while disciplinary research includes only one discipline, multi- and inter-disciplinary research includes several disciplines. However, the key difference of interdisciplinary research is the collaboration of all disciplines to achieve the objectives set within a particular project. Additionally, transdisciplinary research involves stakeholders from various backgrounds.