Research & Monitoring
The SWIMWAY approach refers to much more than only the migration of fish swimming from the river to sea or from offshore to the coast and vice versa. It also relates to movements of all life stages nested in different spatial scales. Given the backlog of knowledge development in fish ecology of the Wadden Sea as compared to, for example, birds or benthos over the past decades, this means that there is a need for investment in basic knowledge in order to identify factors that are currently limiting for Wadden Sea fish populations. These factors may vary between species and areas.
The main benefit arising from the SWIMWAY research outlined above will be the identification of population bottlenecks and the translation of this knowledge into effective management and conservation measures. Closing these knowledge gaps will help to improve effective conservation.
