Project overview
marEEchange pursues the following overall scientific aims:
- Explore how to attribute causal responsibility for a regime shift to actors (fishers, anglers, administration, fishery managers) and circumstances (in particular climate change).
- Study reorganisation after a regime shift in real time for the Western Baltic sea, and assess how the period of reorganisation may open a window of opportunity for a change into a regime of sustainability.
- Propose pathways into a sustainable future for the Western Baltic sea, and contribute to implementing in transdisiciplinary collaboration with key actors from the commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as from administration and the wider society.
marEEchange aims to study the Western Baltic sea as a ‘time machine’ into the future. The drastic changes that are expected for marine and coastal ecological-economic systems around the globe, driven by climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures, have been experienced here earlier than elsewhere, due to the particular ecological and socio-economic situation.
marEEchange aims at a close, transdisciplinary collaboration with the stake- and knowledge holders who have been directly affected by the regime shift to understand (a) how they attribute responsibility to actors, and (b) what would constitute, from their points of view, a regime of sustainability. We hypothesize that demographic change, with an increasing number of fishers reaching retirement age, and change towards a more part-time commercial fishery, with a fuzzy distinction vis-a-vis the recreational fishery with multiple target species, an almost complete abandoning of industrial fishing, and increasing regionalization of fisheries-related value chains, can be critical elements in a transition towards a sustainable Western Baltic.
Granting agency: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Project duration: 2023–2025
Work packages (WP)
Contact
Dr Hans Sloterdijk
Coordinator
Phone: —
Email: hans.sloterdijk@idiv.de
Full profile
Consortium
The consortium of marEEchange is characterised by its experience in investigating aquatic resource management questions related to the topic of the call in its ecological, economic and social context. The consortium is strongly interdisciplinary and complementary in its expertise comprising nationally and internationally leading scientists in the field of resource- and sustainability economics, marine ecology and fisheries management, social-ecological interactions in fisheries and stakeholder involvement and communication.
Research output
Arlidge, W.N.S., Becker, O., Bronnmann, J., Riepe, C., Arlinghaus, R., 2026. Understanding recreational anglers’ perceptions of stock trend, status, and regime shifts in the western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua). Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 36, 39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-026-10041-8
Barz, K., Strehlow, H.V., Arlinghaus, R., Korzhenevych, A., Meyer, S., Zimmermann, C. (2024). Wirtschaftliche
Bedeutung des Kabeljaus oder Dorsches. In: DAFV (Hrsg.), Der Dorsch oder Kabeljau (Gadus morhua). Deutscher Angelfischerverband e.V., Berlin, 17-21.
Dao, T., Arlinghaus, R., Ehrlich, E., Quaas, M., 2026. Adaptive Fisher Behavior Alone Can Induce Tipping Points and Stock Collapse: A Synthesis of Bioeconomic Theory That Applies to All Capture Fisheries Under Open Access. Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture 34, 303–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/23308249.2025.2549054
Grati, F., Hyder, K., Mugerza, E., Arlinghaus, R., Baudrier, J., Bell, B., Bolognini, L., De Groote, A.I., Diogo, H., Haase, K., Pita, P., Potts, W., Radford, Z., Regimbart, A., Scanu, M., Skov, C., Ustups, D., Verleye, T., Vølstad, J.H., Weltersbach, M.S., Strehlow, H.V., 2025. Effective governance of marine recreational fisheries in Europe is needed to maximize the societal benefits of its fisheries. ICES Journal of Marine Science 82, fsae169. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsae169
Koemle, D., Pascoe, S., Weltersbach, M.S., Gassler, B., Arlinghaus, R., 2024. How quota cuts, recreational fishing, and predator conservation can shape coastal commercial fishery efforts. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. cjfas-2024-0081. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2024-0081
Lewin, W., Weltersbach, M.S., Strehlow, H.V., 2026. Use and Trust of Digital and Traditional Media Among Recreational Anglers in Germany: Findings From a Nationwide Survey. Fisheries Management Eco fme.70076. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.70076
Lewin, W.-C., Pierce, M.E., Arlinghaus, R., Weltersbach, M.S., Strehlow, H.V., 2025. Stakeholder workshops on western Baltic cod fisheries–conflict and consensus in the face of a highly dynamic ecosystem. Biological Conservation 302, 110983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.110983
Lewin, W.-C., Weltersbach, M.S., Strehlow, H.V., 2026. German Anglers’ Views on Global Warming – Implications for Climate Change Monitoring and Management. Environmental Management 76, 20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-025-02291-2
Möllmann, C., Blenckner, T., Clemmesen, C., Conradt, J., Funk, N., Funk, S., Gottschalk, J., De Graaf, K., Gutte, H., Janssen, G., Kotterba, P., Madiraca, F., Mittermayer, F., Nascimento, M., Otto, S.A., Pinto, G., Riekhof, M.-C., Schwermer, H., Scotti, M., Wagner-Ahlfs, C., Voss, R., 2026. Scenario planning to support the transformative adaptation of a collapsing fishery. npj Ocean Sustain 5, 17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-026-00188-z
Pita, P., Tracey, S., Arlinghaus, R., Bachiller, E., Pinho-Duarte, F., Ferter, K., Henriques, F., Hook, S., Hyder, K., Irigoyen, A., Jiménez, M.P., Laporta, M., Lejk, A.M., Leonard, E., Olesen, H.J., Palmer, F., Pavičić, M., Pontes, J., Pujol-Baucells, M., Radford, Z., Rangel, M., Roche, W., Rudd, H., Ryan, D., Sbragaglia, V., Selles, J., Silva, C.N.S., Skov, C., Strehlow, H.V., Taylor, S., Veiga, P., Venerus, L.A., Venturelli, P., Vertegaal, D., Weltersbach, M.S., Wiech, M., Winkler, A., 2025. Staying hooked: effective science engagement and communication in recreational fisheries. Front. Mar. Sci. 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1589544
Strehlow, H.V., Weltersbach, M.S., Lewin, W.-C., Arlinghaus, R., Becker, O., Bronnmann, J. (2024). Angeln
auf Dorsch. In: DAFV (Hrsg.), Der Dorsch oder Kabeljau (Gadus morhua). Deutscher Angelfischerverband e.V., Berlin, S. 71-80.
Strehlow, H.V., Korzhenevych, A., Lucas, J., Lewin, W., Weltersbach, M.S., Riepe, C., Arlinghaus, R., 2025. Economic impact of resident and nonresident marine anglers to the local economy in Mecklenburg‐Western Pomerania, Germany. Fisheries Management Eco 32, e12664. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12664
United Nations. (2026). Chapter 2: Recreational fishing. In The Third World Ocean Assessment (WOA III). https://woa.un.org/third-world-ocean-assessment/socioecological-systems/sustainable-and-inclusive-ocean-economy/chapter-2-recreational-fishing
Voss, R., Quaas, M.F., 2026. Future fishing potential of cod and herring under climate change in the Western Baltic Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science 83, fsag033. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsag033