Ammunition fishing
As ammunition fishing is defined as the salvage and landing of dumped munitions and military equipment for scrap recovery , especially from the North Sea in the period 1949-1958.
background
After Germany was to be demilitarized as soon as possible after the Second World War , the Allies were faced with the problem of destroying considerable amounts of ammunition on German territory. Based on experience from the First World War , it was decided to dump the ammunition at sea.
Shortly after the dumping operations were completed in 1949, a new profession quickly developed: ammunition fishing. Due to the high demand for metal, it represented a lucrative sideline for many fishermen. After several accidents, ammunition fishing was banned in 1958.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Marc KOCH & Stefan NEHRING: Old armaments in the German coastal waters - Proposals for remediation strategies in the context of the European Water Framework Directive, Rostock. Marine Biological Articles, Issue 17 Rostock 2007
- ↑ Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forests: Annual report on German fisheries 1957, page 170