Habitat Protection Archives

Importance of seamounts-like features for Mediterranean marine habitats and threatened species

Oceana’s exploratory ROV’s dives in Western Mediterranean seamounts have collected more than 300 hours of video from deepsea ecosystem. Findings of threatened species and habitats, like carnivorous sponges, elasmobranches, coral gardens, sponge aggregations, coralligenous beds, etc. or even new species for science like giant foraminifera (Astrorhizidae), or new species for the Mediterranean (i.e. Anomocora fecunda), … Read more

Isidella elongata (Cnidaria: Alcyonacea) facies in the western Mediterranean Sea: visual surveys and descriptions of its ecological role

Isidella elongata is a candelabrum-shaped alcyonacean forming important facies on the bathyal muddy bottoms of the Mediterranean Sea, currently considered a sensitive habitat and heavily impacted by deep-sea fisheries. Until a few decades ago, this facies was a widespread habitat of the deep Mediterranean seabed and I. elongata was a common species in the trawling … Read more

Aggregated Clumps of Lithistid Sponges: A Singular, Reef-Like Bathyal Habitat with Relevant Paleontological Connections

The advent of deep-sea exploration using video cameras has uncovered extensive sponge aggregations in virtually all oceans. Yet, a distinct type is herein reported from the Mediterranean: a monospecific reef-like formation built by the lithistid demosponge Leiodermatium pfeifferae. Erect, plate-like individuals (up to 80 cm) form bulky clumps, making up to 1.8 m high mounds … Read more

Oceana begins exploration of North Sea marine life in waters of five nations

Oceana is launching today its two-month expedition in the North Sea to survey important areas of marine life in the waters of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, on board the vessel Neptune. The organisation’s second research project in the North Sea is generously funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery and will … Read more

Untying the Mediterranean Gordian Knot: A Twenty First Century Challenge for Fisheries Management

Management of fisheries in the Mediterranean basin has often been described as a unique and complex challenge, due to their multi-specificity, the diversity of gear-types, and the number of nations involved. This perspective has gone hand-in-hand for decades with a lack of strong political will from decision-makers, who have been unwilling to put Mediterranean fisheries … Read more

Spanish capital goes blue for World Oceans Day

Iconic building in Madrid illuminated to mark international day Oceana first to ever project images on Spanish parliament’s facade Spain’s parliament will screen for the first time underwater videos from Oceana’s expeditions to mark World Oceans Day on Thursday. Madrid’s landmark building, the City Hall, will also turn blue as part of the city’s celebrations. … Read more

Essential Fish Habitats Protection. Rebuilding EU fish stocks by 2020 under the Common Fisheries Policy

What is an Essential Fish Habitat? An Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) is a habitat identifi ed as crucial to the ecological and biological requirements for the critical life cycle of exploited fi sh species, and which may require special protection to improve stock status and long-term sustainability. In particular, EFH refers to the waters and … Read more

EU auditors expose serious lack of control in heavily overfished Mediterranean Sea

Today, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published a damning report on fisheries compliance by EU Member States. Auditors visited Spain, France, Italy and the UK (Scotland), which represent more than half of the EU fishing fleet and almost half of the total fish catches in the Union. The results reveal a lack of control … Read more

Essential Fish Habitats

EU fisheries ministers continue to disregard science and to overfish stocks on the basis of short-sighted socio-economic arguments. It is undeniable that the Union’s Member States must act immediately to stop overfishing and to recover all stock above healthy levels by 2020, at the latest. To achieve this objective, an effective protection of Essential Fish … Read more

Researchers find underwater forest of critically endangered bamboo coral in the Balearic Islands

The forest was discovered at a depth of 400 meters between Mallorca and Ibiza, an area Oceana has campaigned to protect Scientists from Oceana, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, and the University of Bari (Italy) have described and listed the biodiversity associated to a bamboo coral (Isidella elongata) forest for the first time. The colony … Read more