Publications
European plaice movements show evidence of high residency, site fidelity, and feeding around hard substrates within an offshore wind farm Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Offshore wind farms (OWFs) are expanding rapidly in the North Sea, often creating spatial conflicts with fisheries. Managing such conflicts requires knowledge on the impact of OWFs on the spatial distribution and movement behaviour of fished species. However, such knowledge is still lacking, especially for soft sediment fish such as flatfish, which are vital fisheries resources in the region. Therefore, we used acoustic telemetry to examine the ...
Understanding the impact of sand extraction on benthic ecosystem functioning: a combination of functional indices and biological trait analysis Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Marine aggregates have been intensively extracted in the North-East Atlantic over the past decades. This study aimed to assess the effect of sand extraction on benthic ecosystem functioning using a combination of biological traits and functional indices (the bioturbation (BPc) and irrigation potential (IPc) and secondary production (SPc) of the macrobenthic community). Data on macrobenthos, sediment properties and extraction intensity were ...
DNA metabarcoding on repeat: Sequencing data of marine macrobenthos are reproducible and robust across labs and protocols Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
DNA metabarcoding can be used in marine environmental monitoring if results are reproducible between labs and robust against modifications to the lab protocol. In this interlaboratory study, we conducted a ring test where subsamples of blended macrobenthos samples were distributed to four laboratories located in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Samples were processed by a standardized lab protocol and by an adapted protocol, and ...
DNA-based monitoring of soft sediments Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
DNA-based monitoring has the potential to provide high resolution biodiversity data from the marine environment at a fraction of the time and costs associated with morphology based monitoring. Yet, proper ground truthing of DNA-based monitoring is needed across different member states to reach harmonization of methods and to pave the way for implementation in national and European monitoring programs. Within the GEANS soft sediment pilot, three ...
Functional trait responses to different anthropogenic pressures Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
There is an increasing awareness that knowledge of the functional diversity of a community is key to understand how the community responds to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. The Belgian Part of the North Sea (BPNS) represents a highly dynamic area that is subject to a variety of human activities. The main objective of this study is to investigate the usefulness of functional diversity indices and fuzzy correspondence analysis (FCA) to ...
DNA-based monitoring: A pilot study on autonomous reef monitoring structures (ARMS) in the North Sea region. Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Here we evaluated a genetic monitoring protocol for potential applications in regional level status assessments of benthic diversity across in the North Sea Region (NSR). For this study, we chose an established method for passive sampling of hard-bottom communities using Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS). We created thirteen sample events in five coastal observatories throughout Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Belgium. Field work was ...
Belgian Sea Fisheries - Background information on the sustainability pathway in the last decade Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Adapting postharvest activities in the value chain of fisheries and aquaculture to the effects of climate change and mitigating their climate footprint through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Climate change events are impacting EU Postharvest (PH) value chains, resulting in rising costs and unpredictable supply flows of raw materials. Despite this, direct economic costs (e.g. fuel, transport) are the top priority for producers to mitigate, with less emphasis on how future changes in climate will impact businesses. New species may be added to the PH industry, while further development of wild caught fisheries and technological ...
Offshore wind farms affect the spatial distribution pattern of plaice Pleuronectes platessa at both the turbine and wind farm scale Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
We investigated how the distribution of plaice Pleuronectes platessa, a typical soft-sediment fish species, has been affected by the introduction of hard substrate [turbines and scour protection layer (SPL)] at both turbine and wind farm scale in two Belgian offshore wind farms (OWFs). Diving transects (40 m) at 11 monopiles revealed four times higher plaice abundances on the sandy patches of the SPL (average radius 16.5 m) compared to the ...