Cleaver Bank (Klaverbank in Dutch) extends over 1235 km2 in a transboundary area shared between the UK and the Netherlands (Fig. 1). In comparison with surrounding areas, it is home to a diverse benthic community and a wide variety of substrates, specifically gravel and dispersed rocks that originated in the last Ice Age (15 000 … Read more
The waters off Holderness, north of the Humber Estuary on the Yorkshire coast, represent a very rich area in terms of marine biodiversity. This is partly due to the mosaic of substrate types found in the area, which range from rocky bottoms and coarse sediment through to mixed sediment, sand, and mud. This array of … Read more
On 16-17 December, the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the EU (“Agrifish”) will decide on fishing limits in EU Atlantic waters and the North Sea for 2020. For the first time, measures will be approved for Western Mediterranean waters as well. Oceana urges ministers to meet this final extension of the legal deadline to stop … Read more
The European Commission unveiled the European Green Deal today, the flagship agenda driving Europe’s ecological transition to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Oceana welcomes that the ocean is part of the document, as marine habitats mitigate climate crisis by storing CO2, while ocean restoration and protection are fundamental for building resilience to … Read more
Below the water’s surface, are 17 000 species that can potentially help us in the fight against climate change that are, oddly enough, being overlooked: these are of course, the algae. Just like any other plant, algae use CO2 for photosynthesis, and thus, absorb a great amount of this greenhouse gas. And that is what brings … Read more
Oceana urges Spanish, French and Italian Ministers for Fisheries to show political courage at the upcoming EU Council of Fisheries Ministers (16-17 December 2019) to adopt stronger reductions of fishing efforts than proposed by the European Commission, of at least -20% of fishing effort for 2020. The challenge of the EU negotiations will be to … Read more
Oceana proposes that Finland and Sweden create a transboundary marine protected area in the Quark, as current protections are patchy and do not guarantee the preservation of this unique area. The Quark (Kvarken in Swedish, Merenkurkku in Finnish) is one of a kind in Europe, because of its unusual geological formations and its mix of … Read more
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Shared between Finland and Sweden, the Quark is a shallow, narrow sub‑basin in the northern Baltic Sea that separates the nearly‑freshwater Bothnian Bay from the more saline Bothnian Sea. The marked variation in salinity across the waters of the Quark is reflected in its flora and fauna; the area hosts a unique mix … Read more
We call on decision-makers to support the Commission’s proposal to: · Introduce Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) requirements to enable fully documented fisheries (Article 1(23) of the proposal); · Allow for a better implementation of the enforcement provisions of the Control Regulation (Article 1 (69), Annexes III and IV); · Mandate the use of tracking devices … Read more
Oceana applauds decisions to increase fisheries transparency, protect threatened corals and preserve breeding grounds adopted by FAO’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) in their 43rd session. The enforcement of these measures’ package will be vital to help revert the overfishing crisis of this sea, since they will create areas where fish can … 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.
