Fischereihistorische Forschung im interdisziplinären Verbund: das Doktorandenkolleg "Lebensraum Nordseeküste"

"In the years 2000 to 2002, the German Maritime Museum’s Department of Fishery History participated in an interdisciplinary doctoral candidates’ study group based at the University of Bremen and concerned with the North Sea coast as a living environment. Within this context the museum pursued a research project on structural changes in German fishery locations following the re-establishment of the fishing zone limits in the North Atlantic. In the course of this cooperation, both the limitations and opportunities of involvement in interdisciplinary research contexts became clear. A particularly high level of synergy was attained in the investigation of international law, where by means of retrospective scenarios it was possible to examine historical developments with regard to the question as to whether the initial problems could have been solved by the ultimate legal developments. Similarly positive effects were attained in the area of communication; the specialised scientific results were directed toward a broad interested public. Altogether it can be established that the interdisciplinary involvement of the museum’s research on the history of fishery achieved fundamentally positive results. In the event that corresponding projects are newly initiated in future, however, much greater care should be exercised in the coordination and selection of the participating disciplines. In particular, it should be taken into consideration that a purely geographical definition proved inadequate as a link between the participating disciplines and should be replaced or supplemented by a more specific research target." (author's abstract