I am glad to announce that my thesis has been published both in print and online. For the past five years, I have worked with a great team of colleagues, fishers, conservationists and local communities to study the impact of fisheries on sharks and rays in large intertidal areas, and how this may affect their…
Read more
In a first for the region, highly threatened sharks and rays have been tagged and released by scientists in the Bijagos Archipelago, off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. The main goal of the expedition was to determine why these species use the shallow waters of the archipelago. During the four-week expedition, a team…
Read more
We are currently in the midst of preparing for another expedition to the beautiful Bijagos Archipelago in Guinea Bissau. With a core team of 6 researchers and students of the University of Groningen (RUG) and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and two technicians and drone operators from The Fieldwork Company we will…
Read more
Over the last decade, scientific research and conservation work focused on sharks and rays has increased vastly due to the dramatic population and increased media attention for these species groups. Until now scientific research has mainly focused on sharks and rays on tropical coral reefs or in association with pelagic and bottom fisheries. This bias…
Read more
After the very successful expedition to Mauritania in 2016, I joined again for a slightly different mission this time. As we mainly interviewed local fishermen, traders and boat owners during the 2016 expedit ion, this time we set out to try and catch sharks and rays right in the shallow waters of the Banc d’Arguin.…
Read more
Expedition to the beautiful Mauritania In West-Africa lies a large country that probably not many Europeans ever heard about, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. I had the privilege to travel to the biggest national park of Mauritania, as you might expect from me by now, for a shark related study (yes, sand sharks..). The Country…
Read more