Pollutants in the Wadden Sea: New Software Aims to Protect Fish

We are developing an analysis tool to support conservation efforts

Fish in the Wadden Sea are increasingly exposed to pollutants, threatening both their health and their role in the ecosystem. To tackle this problem, scientists at the University of Oldenburg’s Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) are developing a new software tool together with project partners. The aim is to help authorities, NGOs, and companies better understand how pollutants interact with other environmental stressors – and to identify effective measures to protect marine life.

The project, funded with €284,000 by the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea Foundation, brings together the aquatic ecology institute AquaEcology and the software company BioDiv.Systems. The tool is integrated within the MYBIOSIS ecosystem and will be accessible at kladia.info.

“This online tool is designed to make it quick and easy for users from different backgrounds to analyze large and complex data sets,” says project coordinator Dr. Silke Eilers, a biologist in the Mathematical Modelling group led by Prof. Dr. Bernd Blasius at ICBM.

A prototype already exists. Over the next two years, the team will refine the tool, adapt it specifically for fish in the Wadden Sea, and make uncertainties such as measurement errors more transparent. To do so, the researchers are drawing on existing data from environmental agencies and scientific studies.

Pollack ( Pollachius pollachius), here on the right, is also known by the common name of hake or cod. Image by Olivier Dugornay (Ifremer), Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Fish at risk

Fish are vital to the Wadden Sea ecosystem and provide food for humans. Pollutants, however, can weaken their health and reproductive success. “Although this is known, we still lack a clear understanding of the combined impact pollutants have on fish populations and the ecosystem – especially since organisms are exposed to multiple stressors throughout their lives,” says Eilers.

The project places special emphasis on habitats crucial for spawning and young fish. Seagrass meadows, for example, are key nurseries for species such as garfish and herring. To study these interactions, the researchers are developing a mathematical network model that can better capture pollutant exposure in fish.

If successful, the tool could later be expanded to other species groups in the Wadden Sea, including mussels, oysters, plankton, and marine mammals.