The Netherlands Indian Ocean Programme (NIOP) studied the effect of the monsoon on the climate system in the northern Indian Ocean. Information on the research themes, scientists involved and instruments used together with most of the basic scientific data gathered from May 1992 until February 1993 is available on a CDRom. It was developed in cooperation with the Netherlands Geosci. Foundation (GOA) and ETI Biodiversity Centre in the Netherlands. Through PANGAEA, data on the abundance of dinoflagellate cysts have been made available.

The fifth extensive inventory of the demersal fish fauna by NIOZ was initiated by the monitoring component of the ZKO programme, focussing on the carrying capacity of coastal zone and North Sea. This cruises were carried out accoding to the same protocols with similar equipment and at the same locations as the EMOWAD programme in 1986: bimonthly demersal fish survey were carried out in the intertidal, subtidal and tidal gullies in the Marsdiep and Vlie basin of the western Dutch Wadden Sea in 2009 and in the Marsdiep basin only in 2010. Sampling took place with rubber dinghies in the intertidal and in deeper waters with RV Navicula. All the fish were identified and measured on board. The programme lasted for two year covering 2009 and 2010.

The NIOZ HW fishing programme started with the PhD project of Bouwe Kuipers on the ecology of juvenile plaice Pleuronectes platessa L. in the western Wadden Sea in the beginning of the 1970s. Within the framework of this PhD project, shallow subtidal and intertidal areas were sampled and for this, a commercial fishing gear for catching adult flatfish, a Dutch beam trawl, was downscaled to a 2 m beam trawl that could be handled and towed with small rubber dinghies by a single or by 2 persons.

The first inventory of seasonal patterns in the demersal fish fauna of the western part of the Dutch Wadden Sea took place from November 1961 to November 1962 by regular monthly trawling surveys in the Marsdiep, Vlie and Borndiep basin. The programme was supervised by dr. Freek Creutzberg and dr. Mark Fonds. Sampling took place with RV Max Weber, with a 2 m beam trawl. All the fish were identified and measured on board. In total 193 hauls were made during 13 cruises.

The fourth extensive inventory of the demersal fish fauna of the western part of the Dutch Wadden Sea by NIOZ took place in 1986 as part of the EMOWAD project. The aim of the EMOWAD (Ecological Model Wadden Sea) project, was to study the applicability to the western Dutch Wadden Sea of an ecosystem model developed for the Ems estuary. In addition to a modelling exercise, extensive field and laboratory research, including epibenthic fish surveys, was carried out in the period 1986-1987 for model validation.

The third inventory of the demersal fish fauna by NIOZ took place in 1974. Main goal of these cruises in the Marsdiep basin was the habitat selection and depth distribution of juvenile plaice. The programme was supervised by dr. Jenne J. Zijlstra and beam trawl sampling took place with rubber dinghies in the intertidal and in deeper waters with RV Ephyra. All the fish were identified and measured on board. In total 8 cruises each of about 20 hauls were carried out.

Within the framework of the programme Biological Research Ems-Dollard Estuary (BOEDE) inventories were made of the Ems-Dollard estuary during the period 1974 – 1979. Samples were collected in both intertidal and more deeper subtidal and gully areas.

In the late 1960-ties work on the productivity of intertidal benthos at Balgzand was started at NIOZ and this has resulted of a continuous series of benthos density and biomass data on a number of transects in late winter and late summer until present. In order to study the variability in impact of epibenthic predators on especially newly-settled bivalves, in 1983 a series of observations of densities of juvenile epibenthic predators (shrimps and shore crabs) was started on 3 locations, in 1998 extended to 5 locations at Balgzand and still running. As a result of the first inventory a bi-annual sampling programme (late winter/late summer) at three transects was started in 1989 in the Marsdiep tidal basin in the framework of the RWS BIOMON monitoring and carried out by NIOZ until recently.

Since 1974, bucket water samples have been collected at the NIOZ-Texel sampling jetty, located at the northern side of the Marsdiep tidal inlet between the North Sea and the Wadden Sea (53°00′06″N, 4°47′21″E). Sampling resolution has occurred at an average of approximately 40 times per annum. The first parameters measured were phytoplankton species densities, Secchi disc depth, suspended particulate matter, dissolved nutrients, chlorophyll a, and primary production.

The first subtidal survey was conducted during a one-year period in 1981-1982. The survey covered the subtidal parts of the western Wadden Sea, i.e. west of the watershed between the island of Terschelling and the mainland, except for the Eierlandse Gat tidal basin. A total of 459 stations were sampled along 45 transects scattered over the entire area.