A giant colourful pop-up book depicting the devastation caused by destructive bottom trawling – and how the marine environment thrives in its absence – was delivered to European Union (EU) Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevi?ius by NGOs this morning, on behalf of more than 150,000 Europeans who have signed a petition calling for the EU to phase out destructive fishing practices, starting … Read more
Conservation charity Oceana says at the current rate of progress, it will take the Government until 2050 to ban the highly destructive fishing method The UK Government is about to issue over 1,000 fishing licenses for EU and UK fishing vessels for 2022, permitting them to bottom trawl in UK Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This is in … Read more
Summary Spain has an extensive network of marine protected areas covering more than 13% of its marine surface area. These areas have been designated to protect very rich and varied biodiversity, but their management is inadequate. In most of these areas, which form part of the Natura 2000 network, the status of the habitats and … Read more
The organisation calls on Mediterranean countries to make information on authorised fishing vessels public, to help identify those that fish illegally Oceana proposes new 800km² fishery closure to protect exceptional deep-sea corals between Spain and Morocco Oceana is urging the member countries of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) to improve fisheries management and ensure effective enforcement by modernising its Authorised Vessel List. This would mean publicly listing information about fishing licenses, detailing which vessels can legally operate where, when, how and under which conditions, especially for vessels allowed to fish … Read more
Executive Summary The EU has set out strong objectives for marine protection in its waters. This began with the adoption of the Habitats Directive in 1992 and has been continually re-emphasised in later policy outlines, the latest being the 2030 Biodiversity Strategy which sets a target of protecting 30% of the marine habitat with 10% … Read more
All bar two of Scotland’s 24 offshore benthic Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were damaged by bottom-towed fishing gears in 2020, making their ‘protected’ status mere lines on a paper map. Oceana recorded over 44,000 fishing hours using bottom-towed gear in inshore and offshore MPAs in the Scottish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in 2020. The analysis … Read more
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Advice by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) released today shows that reducing bottom-trawling efforts by 26% could result in protecting 70% of Europe’s Atlantic sea area with small impact on the fishing sector, while delivering huge benefits to the marine environment. These include restoring biodiversity and mitigating climate change. Nicolas … Read more
Brussels. The rate of overfishing has increased in European waters, according to today’s report by the European Commission on the state of play of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Oceana deplores this confirmation that the EU is moving further away from its legal commitment to exploit all harvested fish populations sustainably. To add to this, … Read more
New data shows 10% increase in total trawling hours in UK benthic MPAs in 2020, despite COVID19 On World Oceans Day, 8 June 2021, marine conservation groups call on the UK and on devolved Governments to commit to ban trawling in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and properly protect our precious marine environment. This coincides with … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
