What was initially conceived as a unifying initiative to protect threatened species in the Baltic Sea and Kattegat has quickly evolved into one country’s crusade to prevent marine protection in the region. It all began in 2007 when contracting parties to HELCOM, the governing body of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment … Read more
At 750 the number of recorded multicellular non indigenous species (NIS) in the Mediterranean Sea is far higher than in other European Seas: nearly triple the number of records known from the western European coastline from Norway to Portugal, and between 1970 and 2015, the number has grown by 215%. Of these, 450 were introduced … Read more
Anything can happen underwater, and even gardens are not necessarily composed of plants. In fact, one of the most beautiful habitats in the Mediterranean are coralligenous gardens, where trees are replaced by soft corals (gorgonians) and flowers give way to calcareous red algae and animals such as sponges and bryozoans. These wondrous places support a … Read more
Stately kelp forests and rainbow-colored coral reefs are known for the amazing amount of life that calls these habitats home. But don’t count out the muddy seafloor, especially if it harbors a tiny crustacean called a haploops. These animals, related to the sandhoppers often found on beaches, build small mud tunnel homes that litter the … Read more
Mediterranean Sea fish stocks are in a dramatic situation with 96% of European assessed stocks in the region reported as overexploited. The reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) requires the EU to end overfishing by 2015 or at the latest by 2020 in order to ensure the recovery of fish stocks. To achieve this objective EU … Read more
Oceana is disappointed by the passive attitude shown by EU States that continues to postpone the EU’s duty to end overfishing by 2020. A high-level seminar on the state of fish stocks in the Mediterranean organized by the European Commission (DG MARE) and the Mediterranean Advisory Council (MEDAC) closed today in Catania, Sicily, with no … Read more
Overfishing in the Mediterranean Sea began around the ‘70s, when fishing effort increased considerably thanks to technological developments that allowed fleets to fish farther, deeper and find catches more easily. Latest assessments of the situation in the Mediterranean, revealed that 96% of stocks fished exclusively by EU countries are overexploited above what is considered sustainable … Read more
Oceana warns at high-level seminar that if overfishing is not stopped by 2020, closing fisheries or losing them will be the only options left Oceana urges the EU to announce this week in Catania concrete proposals to overcome the severe overfishing that is threatening the short-term future of Mediterranean fisheries. 96% of assessed stocks exploited … Read more
Oceana urges the Danish and Swedish governments to jointly manage and protect the Sound from damaging human activities that are causing the decline of key marine habitats such as horse mussel beds and Haploops communities. The exceptional value of this shared strait underscores the need for cooperative management, so that economic activities go hand in … Read more
The Sound is located between Sweden and Denmark, and forms, together with Little Belt and Great Belt, a connection between the brackish Baltic Sea and the saltier North Sea via Kattegat and Skagerrak. In 1932, a bottom trawling ban was established in the Sound because of heavy traffic in the narrow strait. The ban, which … 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.
