Marine historical ecology
MarHis research focuses on North Sea marine life in previous centuries.
Historic literature and data are studied to reconstruct fish populations and benthic life in the past. The results are printed in papers or reports.
Literature on the pristine state, before fisheries, is unavailable. However, knowledge on populations as far back in time as possible, is important for today's restoration efforts and planning of marine protected areas.
Finished projects
- 16th-century fish populations and fisheries, described in the Fishbook of Adriaen Coenen
- Long-term occurences of blue tuna in the North Sea
- Offshore flat oysterbeds in the central North Sea
- Sidestep in the Caribbean: Reef fish trends in Bonaire from 2000 to 2019
- North Sea benthos 1902-1912
North Sea fishery in the 19th century project
This project focuses the North Sea fishery in the 19th century, the time before fishery statistics were collected. Together with fishery researcher Adriaan Rijnsdorp I use historic sources to study the impact of trawl fisheries on fish and bottom fauna. Publications under construction.
