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Dieren en planten

The Phoca, the surveillance ship of LNV, Ecomare

Supervisors on the tidal flats

Enforcement of the rules operative for the Wadden Sea lies in the hands of the towns and the provinces as well as the national government. The provinces receive more and more tasks in this region. However for the time being, the national government is still expressly present in the Wadden Sea with various inspection vessels.

  • Wadden Unit

    The directorates North and Northwest of the Ministry for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality own three vessels, each active around 1000 hours per year. The Phoca is active in the western section of the Wadden Sea, the Krukel in the central section and the Harder in the eastern section. Half of the time is spent on inspection and maintenance, especially in terms of the Nature Protection Act; the rest of the time is spent in research and monitoring.
    The directorate Food Quality from the ministry has two vessels for the Wadden Sea, each with one governmental fisheries expert on board. They no longer have the authority for general tracking, as their colleagues mentioned above do. But they put in the same number of hours.

  • Ministry for Transportation

    The Ministry for Transportation and Public Works has a navigational markings office, however it no longer fulfills any function in the area of inspection and maintenance. Since the reorganization at the end of 1996, the surveying office no longer has separate inspection ships, but eleven multifunctional vessels with, in theory, one worker always on board with the authority for general tracking. These ships are in the Wadden Sea and Ems-Dollard region for approximately 165 days per year. More vessels are available when calamities occur.

  • Ministry of Justice

    The Ministry of Justice is represented in the wadden region via the Corps National Police Services. The majority of the inspection and enforcement tasks of this corps is fulfilled by two ships in Harlingen en Delfzijl, which are active a total of 425 days in the Wadden Sea. Since recently, a terrain vehicle with a fast trailing boat is available which is active around two hundred days per year on the Wadden Sea and Lauwersmeer. The total number of available hours for inspection and enforcement adds up to around 19,000, divided over thirty people.

  • Military Police

    The Military Police (Marechaussee) has another two ships in Zoutkamp and Den Helder, each with three crew members.

  • Ministry of Finances

    The Ministry of Finances has two customs boats in Harlingen and Den Helder which must cover the entire Wadden Sea and the Ems-Dollard.

  • Lighthouses

    The present occupation of the lighthouses on the wadden islands is the following: Texel unmanned during the day (since 2003), Vlieland unmanned (since 1988), Terschelling eight guards (possibly ten in the future) and continual occupation, Ameland unmanned (since 2005) and Schiermonnikoog complete occupation.