Mediterranean countries commit at UN meeting to protect endangered corals

Mediterranean countries agreed today to legally protect endangered cold-water corals in the Mediterranean Sea from harmful human activity at a UN Environment meeting in Albania. The 22 members of the Barcelona Convention voted in favour of including four additional coral species – cockscomb cup coral, yellow-tree coral, yellow coral and bamboo coral – to the … Read more

Illustrated catalogue of cold water corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from Alboran basin and North Eastern Atlantic submarine mountains, collected in Oceana campaigns

Along the Oceana marine exploration trips (2011–2012) it has been collected 17 species of cold water corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from deep Alboran basin and submarine mountains located South of Portugal. There are two new records from theMediterranean and also an important found regarding the enigmatic Dendrobrachia bonsai. The paper is completed by some images with … Read more

Towards a coherent, well-managed network of EU Marine Protected Areas by 2020

This report presents the results of an evaluation of a set of national Programmes of Measures (PoMs) developed under the framework of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by European Member States. The PoMs are the operational part of the MSFD and are therefore key to achieving and maintaining Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020. … Read more

Fishing intensity in Mediterranean Natura 2000: How monitoring can support management & conservation

The increasing availability of detailed fisheries data, including logbooks and monitoring systems, enables the analysis of the relationships between fishing activities, their intensity and their potential environmental impacts at an unprecedented level of detail. In particular, from tracking data of fishing vessels, it is possible to derive information about the behavior of coastal fisheries and … Read more

Oceana: EU ministers must put an end to overfishing in the Baltic Sea now

Luxembourg – On October 9th, the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) are due to meet in Luxembourg where ministers will decide on catch limits for the Baltic Sea in 2018. Oceana has actively been advocating for the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) to be in line with scientific advice and with the Common Fisheries Policy … Read more

Oceana completes 5400-mile underwater study in the North Sea

Oceana scientists have wrapped up an eight-week, at-sea research cruise in the North Sea, surveying 15 areas of special conservation interest across the waters of the UK, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, covering 5400 miles (8700km). Oceana will now study the data collected at-sea to identify key areas that should be protected from human … Read more

Duikexpeditie keert terug van verkenning uniek Noordzeegebied Borkumse Stenen

Stichting De Noordzee, Stichting Duik De Noordzee Schoon & OCEANA zijn teruggekeerd van hun expeditie naar de Borkumse Stenen. Tijdens de expeditie zijn biologische gegevens verzameld & is het gebied verder in kaart gebracht. Het gebied is uitzonderlijk door het grind, grote keien en velden van schelpkokerwormen die een natuurlijk Noordzeerif vormen. Onderzocht is de … Read more

Status, trends and drivers of kelp forests in Europe: an expert assessment

A comprehensive expert consultation was conducted in order to assess the status, trends and the most important drivers of change in the abundance and geographical distribution of kelp forests in European waters. This consultation included an on-line questionnaire, results from a workshop and data provided by a selected group of experts working on kelp forest … Read more