The SeArch Project: Towards an Assessment Methodology and Sustainable Management Policy for the Archaeological Heritage of the North Sea in Belgium

The knowledge of the submerged cultural heritage in the North Sea is rather limited. The Belgian North Sea is being used for a lot of different purposes, such as fishing, aggregate extraction, wind farms, dredging, etc. Due to these increasing economic activities, the underwater archive is in danger. In the context of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage of 2001, gathering more information about the submerged cultural heritage in the intertidal zones of the North Sea is one of the main objectives of the Belgian scientific project ‘SeArch’. It will give a clearer picture of the broader cultural and archaeological heritage in the region and it can be used as a basis for a sustainable management by government agencies. The Department of Geography (Ghent University, Belgium) contributes to the SeArch project in two ways. First, an innovative survey methodology has been developed which allows an accurate and cost-efficient evaluation of the archaeological potential in the intertidal zones of the Belgian beaches. Secondly, the Department of Geography is developing an interactive webGIS platform, which makes it possible to share, integrate and visualize the gathered archaeological and environmental data and information in a user-friendly way. Hereby, the total potential of this project is fully exploited in a time-efficient manner. To create an interactive webGIS platform, a good structured spatial database is needed. It enables manipulation of a wide variety of georeferenced information in both raster and vector formats. This paper provides more information about the configuration and application of the spatial database. Moreover, it focusses on the development of a fully functional Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) using the most reliable, powerful and state-of-the-art technological components. Besides, a new way of collecting geomatic data in a fast and accurate manner will be discussed. Some processing results will show the possibilities for detecting and visualizing underground structures and archaeological objects.

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Seals in Orkney

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Section B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0269727000004188 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 87 (1-2) ◽

pp. 95-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bernie McConnell

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Total Population ◽

Phoca Vitulina ◽

Management Policy ◽

Halichoerus Grypus ◽

Grey Seal ◽

Total Population Size ◽

The North ◽

The North Sea ◽

Domestic Use

SynopsisGrey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and common seals (Phoca vitulina) both occur in Orcadian waters. In previous centuries they formed an important resource for both domestic use and export.Annual grey seal pup production has more than doubled since 1964. Productivity on individual islands is influenced by human activity. Total population size is estimated to have risen from around 10,000 in 1964 to around 20,000 in 1982 despite a management policy of culling originally intended to stop population growth. Grey seals tagged in Orkney have been recovered around most parts of the North Sea, Norway, the Faeroes and south to Ireland.Considerably less is known about the biology of common seals in Orkney. A boat survey in 1979 counted 2653 adults and 420 pups.

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Sustainable management of mixed demersal fisheries in the North Sea through fleet-based management—a proposal from a biological perspective

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsm030 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 64 (4) ◽

pp. 652-660 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Hans-Joachim Rätz ◽

Eckhard Bethke ◽

Hendrik Dörner ◽

Doug Beare ◽

Joachim Gröger

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Sustainable Management ◽

Reproductive Capacity ◽

Individual Species ◽

Total Allowable Catch ◽

Biological Perspective ◽

The North ◽

Management Objectives ◽

The North Sea ◽

Effort Reduction

Abstract Rätz, H-J., Bethke, E., Dörner, H., Beare, D., and Gröger, J. 2007. Sustainable management of mixed demersal fisheries in the North Sea through fleet-based management—a proposal from a biological perspective. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 652–660. Cod, haddock, whiting, saithe, plaice, sole, and Norway lobster are main target species for the mixed demersal fisheries of the North Sea, Skagerrak, and eastern Channel. Management by total allowable catch has not been able to constrain exploitation of individual species, so the potential for a fleet-specific effort management system to reach the management objectives established for the stocks is simulated. Relative fleet-specific effort factors are estimated based on the sum of partial fishing mortalities of the species caught, weighted by the stocks at risk of reduced reproductive capacity. The strategy promotes the use of selective gear and levies non-selective gear. The factors were applied in medium-term simulations of the annual decision process in accordance with existing and proposed multi-annual management plans (including for cod recovery). Strict effort reduction would be required for fleets targeting cod, plaice, or sole (specifically large- and medium-mesh trawler fleets, beam trawlers, and gillnetters) for ∼5 years, reducing the exploitation rates on all stocks substantially. Cod and plaice are predicted to recover by 2010 and cod catches to exceed recent levels continually, with the more selective longliners and some other gear types profiting most. Management objectives for cod dominate annual effort adjustments, resulting in substantial underexploitation of other stocks. However, even a 10% bias caused by non-compliance would largely halt cod recovery and the restoration of other stocks.

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