Sharks have been fished for hundreds of years, some records even date back to ancient Roman times. But it has only been in the last few decades when the volume of shark catches increased exponentially. Sharks are now targeted by both highly industrialised fishing fleets and artisanal fisheries. Sharks are mainly hunted for their fins … Read more
Baiona, Spain –.The environmental organizations, Ecologistas en Acción, Greenpeace, Oceana, Seas At Risk and WWF present in Baiona (Spain) at the Ministerial gathering of 47 countries from the five continents[i] emphasize the ministers’ recognition that “a new scenario for the seas and the oceans” is urgently needed and that the chronic overcapacity of fishing fleets … Read more
Oceana, the international marine conservation organization, is calling on the European Union to present effective proposals to regulate sharks that are caught in the Atlantic Ocean during the upcoming meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Recife, Brazil, 6-15 November. Regarding the innovative shark proposals the European Union presented … Read more
Oceana congratulates the Spanish Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs today for publishing in the Official State Bulletin a total prohibition on the catch of hammerhead and thresher sharks[1]. With this highly awaited Ministerial Order, Spain has become a pioneering country within the European Unión by regulating its shark fisheries. It is the … Read more
Sharks, rays and chimaeras make up the group of fish known as Chondrichthyans– these fish all have skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone. In general, Chondrichthyans grow slowly, mature late and produce few young over long lifetimes. Consequently, their populations grow at extremely low rates, leaving them exceptionally susceptible to fisheries overexploitation and slow … Read more
Red calcareous algae have been widely studied in the shallow waters of the Western Mediterranean (Ballesteros, 2006), but there is very little information about their distribution and function in deep areas. Two main infralittoral and circalittoral ecosystems created by calcareous red algae have been mentioned: maërl and coralligenous beds (Pérès & Picard, 1964; Picard, 1965). … Read more
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) will meet in Recife, Brazil, next week to determine the future of commercially valuable bluefin tuna, whose populations have plummeted over recent decades. ICCAT is also expected to take up the issue of controlling shark catches and finning as agreed upon at the Second Joint … Read more
Oceana estimates that Spain loses seagrass prairies worth 60 million Euros every year due to trawling, the construction of ports and marinas, and dumping. The conservation organisation and the Banco Santander Foundation made this information public during a press conference to present the results of a joint project to restore seagrass prairies developed in the … Read more
Oceana is calling for an urgent reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to stop acidification of oceans. Acidification jeopardizes the survival of coral reefs and numerous marine species, and with them, the sustenance for millions of people worldwide. The international marine preservation organization is asking governments to introduce the acidification problems in the COP15 debates. … Read more
The EU Fisheries Council will meet 14-15 December to agree the 2010 TACs (Total Allowable Catches) for Community fleets. Oceana, the international marine conservation organization, is calling on Fisheries Ministers to end all fishing for porbeagle and spurdog sharks, both Critically Endangered[1] in European waters, as well as that for endangered skates and rays. Setting … Read more
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