Jellyfish, jellypress and jellyperception: Final report - Belgian case study

During the last decades, the number of reports on invasions and blooms of jellyfish has increased, both in scientific literature as in the general media. There is however no clarity about a global rise of gelatinous zooplankton due to the lack of extended time series, and due to the fact that public perception is potentially driven by the media. However, public perception is a key driver in policy decisions, including coastal zone governance and research funding. Consequently, it is useful to investigate the variability within public perception and the relationship between media and public perception in the light of policy. This was investigated within a case study at the Belgian coast regarding the perception on jellyfish and the consequences of jellyfish blooms, based on the results of a questionnaire survey and a media search. The results indicate that perception is only partly driven by the press if it comes to jellyfish. Personal experience seems to be at least equally important as driver. Additionally, the results indicate that there is a large variation in perception on jellyfish, in this study illustrated by the differences in perception between beach tourists and divers. The lack of knowledge about differences between jellyfish species turns out to be a key issue determining perception. Both the variability in perception and the species issue are important for the incorporation of the jellification problem in integrated coastal zone management. In first instance, it is important to extend perception surveys to all groups directly and indirectly affected by jellyfish. By doing so, opportunities may emerge for cooperation between scientists, policymakers and public parties in the form of citizen science. Secondly, management actions concerning jellyfish increases should include the provision of species-specific information, for example by distributing leaflets and putting up warning boards on the beach. This would likely result in a higher acceptance of jellyfish, a better communication between scientists and the public, and in a better quality of data in citizen science programs

“A wind of change” in recreational fisheries? Recreational fishermen and wind farms: current use and perception

Offshore wind farms create opportunities for recreational fishermen in Belgium, since the presence of hard substrates and the closure for trawling create a favorable habitat for fish. After the construction in 2008, a concentration of anglers was observed in the vicinity of the first wind farm during monitoring. In the following years, however, the interest of anglers for the wind farms seemed to disappear. To elucidate the evolution in the relation between recreational angling intensity and wind farms, this study aimed to assess how Belgian recreational fishermen perceive wind farms, how often they visit them and why, and which fish species they (expect to) catch. Data were derived from the annual DCF survey for recreational fishermen. Less than 2% of the sea anglers reported to go fishing in the larger wind farm area, even when 30 to 40 percent of the respondents either expected more fish, bigger fish or other fish species. The main reasons to stay away from wind farms is because entering the wind farms themselves is not allowed, because the distance to the wind farms is relatively large, because charter vessels do not offer fish trips to wind farms, and because wind farms are protection zones and nursery areas for fish. 40% of the respondents would consider fishing inside wind farms if it were allowed, mainly because they expect more or other fish. This is a clear indication that the enforcement of wind farm closure for fisheries and shipping is vital when aiming at the creation and/or restoration of nursing grounds in the area. However, the large distance to the wind farms will probably continue to limit fishing pressure, even if wind farms would (partly) be opened for recreational fisheries

Discarding in beam trawl fisheries: optimisation of discard sampling, evaluation of reducing technical measures and sensibilisation of the sector

Beam trawling for flatfish is the dominant activity in the Belgian fisheries fleet. This activity is characterised by a considerable environmental impact and a high discard rate of bottom-dwelling fish and benthic invertebrates. international pressure on beam trawl fisheries leading to future European measures to reduce or potentially even ban Research on discard practices is currently conducted in the framework of the National Data Gathering Program, but is mainly focussed on commercial fishes. Data on noncommercial species are mostly lacking. Such data are indispensable to assess the impact of beam trawling on the marine ecosystem, and to develop and maintain an towards non-commercial species requires substantial adaptations of the existing sampling protocols and analysis methods.Future implementation of discard reducing measures or even a discard ban will have a severe impact on the fisheries sector. Therefore, such measures should be anticipated by the sector by the development of more selective fishing gear or alternative fishing techniques. Either way, research on discards should be conducted in close cooperation with Belgian fleet members and the results should be communicated to all interested parties.TOETS is an interdisciplinary project which aims to meet the needs in discard research by: (1) developing a suitable sampling protocol to monitor discards of commercial and non-commercial species; (2) assessing the bycatch reducing effect of beam trawls rigged with different types of technical adaptations; (3) informing the sector concerning bycatch reducing measures and cooperating with the sector during the development of reducing technical adaptations; (4) investigating the discard practices in different fishing grounds (Southern Bight and central North Sea, English Channel, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, Bay of Biscay) concerning driving forces and discard raising procedures

Scientific Expertise in Child Protection Policies and Juvenile Justice Practices in Twentieth-Century Belgium

Modern society cannot function without experts and yet we increasingly question the authority of those who advise us. The essays in this collection explore our reliance on experts within a historical context and across a wide range of fields, including agriculture, engineering, health sciences and labour management. Contributors argue that experts were highly aware of their audiences and used performance to gain both scientific and popular support