The Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Kommission für Meeresforschung - DWK (German Oceanography Board) in Hamburg is a group of leading German oceanographers serving as advisors to the Bundesministerium für Landwirtschaft, Ernährung und Forsten - BML (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry). In addition, it coordinates the cooperation between German oceanographers and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea - ICES - in Copenhagen. Its members work on an honorary basis and represent a broad spectrum of marine sciences, providing the BML with extensive expertise with regard to fishery and the marine environment. The DWK was founded nearly 1 00 years ago as a means of supporting the fishing industry: The board members' research activities in the field of "international oceanography" was intended to help guarantee the long-term and optimal availability of fish stocks. The board's title, which has remained programmatic from the beginning, is elucidated on the basis of scientific papers of the past and present. Whereas in former times the DWK was allotted funds to cover its non-personneI and research expenses, today it disposes only of a travel budget. The board's management and facilities have undergone a series of changes; for a period of several decades it even possessed its own research ship. Several examples serve to illustrate this evolution. Reference is also made to the fact that the DWK's influence on the coordination of national marine research was diminished by the establishment of the Senatskommission für Ozeanographie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (the German Research Association's Senatorial Commission on Oceanography). Examples of historical and current projects provide an impression of the DWK's present significance as weil as the scope of its activities in the past.
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