NIOZ Fish Survey 1961-1964 in Western Wadden Sea

The first inventory of seasonal patterns in the demersal fish fauna of the western part of the Dutch Wadden Sea took place from November 1961 to November 1962 by regular monthly trawling surveys in the Marsdiep, Vlie and Borndiep basin. The programme was supervised by dr. Freek Creutzberg and dr. Mark Fonds. Sampling took place with RV Max Weber, with a 2 m beam trawl. All the fish were identified and measured on board. In total 193 hauls were made during 13 cruises. The Max Weber cruises were the first systematic description of the seasonal patterns in occurrence of the demersal fish fauna in the western Wadden Sea. The second extensive inventory of the demersal fish fauna of the western part of the Dutch Wadden Sea took part from October 1963 to October 1964 by regular monthly trawling surveys in the Marsdiep and Vlie basin. The programme was initiated and supervised initially by dr. Freek Creutzberg and in the course of time taken over by dr. Mark Fonds. Sampling took place with RV Ephyra, launched in 1963 as successor of RV Max Weber. In contrast to the previous survey by RV Max Weber, fishing was done with an otter trawl instead of a beam trawl on a number of fixed stations. All the fish were identified and measured on board. In total 16 cruises each of about 44 hauls were performed. The programme lasted for more than a year.