Description: This cruise was conducted as part of the educational training of fishers in the framework of the transdisciplinary SeaRanger program which is scientifically accompanied by the Institute of marine ecosystem and fisheries Science (IMF) at the University of Hamburg (UHAM), the Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Centre for Ocean and Society (CeOS), the Thuenen-Institute for Baltic Sea fisheries (TI-OF), and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) in the framework of the joint project SpaCeParti (Coastal Fishery, Biodiversity, Spatial Use and Climate Change: A Participative Approach to navigate the Western Baltic Sea into a Sustainable Future; Grant no. 03F0914) funded by the BMBF. In order to give the fishermen as realistic an application of the standard monitoring techniques as possible, the trip was planned in such a way that the training part was integrated into a scientific monitoring programme focussing on the spawning activity of fish in the Belt Sea. By sampling a standardised station grid contributing to the joint long-term sampling efforts in the Western Baltic Sea which are internationally coordinated by the WBCF (Western Baltic cod Forum), the fishers learned how plankton, fish and water samples are taken, preserved, and analysed and gained a comprehensive insight into the hydrography and fauna of the western Baltic. Similar to the previous cruise AL606 in January 2024 conducted by the IMF no cod larvae and generally less larvae compared to previous years were observed in the Bongo 500 μm net samples from the Plankton grid stations, potentially indicating a delayed spawning activity of fish in the Belt Sea potentially related to the comparably low water temperatures in winter 2023/24.