Rome. Today, fisheries scientists from Mediterranean countries have validated the Oceana proposal to close nursery areas in the Strait of Sicily in order to restore the heavily overfished stocks of deep-water rose shrimp and hake. Earlier this month, Oceana, the largest international organization for the protection of the oceans, submitted this proposal to the FAO’s … Read more
Earlier this month, Oceana formally submitted a proposal to the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean Sea to permanently close key nursery areas in the Strait of Sicily to bottom trawling. According to the international marine conversation organisation, this measure will contribute to the restoration of unmanaged and overexploited fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea, where … Read more
Threats to the marine environment are multiple and growing and the Baltic Sea is no stranger to them. Numerous human activities have put its ecosystems under severe pressure and it has become one of the most polluted seas in the world. In order to safeguard species and habitats, and to recover the healthy status of the sea, one of the most widely recognized and effective … Read more
Oceana presents a spectacular display of photographs and video from the area to the south of El Hierro to support the initiative to create what would be the first fully marine national park in Spain. The pictures, mostly taken at depths of several hundred metres, demonstrate that these waters represent a unique environment of extraordinary … Read more
Realizamos una estimación de las capturas totales reales de las Islas Baleares, obteniendo un resultado de 570.500 t desde 1950 a 2010. Los desembarques oficiales representaron un 44%, seguido por los desembarques que se venden en el “mercado negro” (24%), descartes (18%), pesca recreativa (10%) y pesca de subsistencia (4%). Teniendo en cuenta que las capturas oficiales fueron para ese periodo 248.000 t, las capturas reales … Read more
The number of fishermen has decreased by 86% and formerly abundant species have disappeared due to overfishing Oceana estimates that the actual catches from fisheries in the Balearic Islands for the period 1950-2010 are 2.3 times higher than the official totals. The study, which has taken two years, is Oceana’s contribution to the Sea Around … Read more
A new species of sponge has been discovered in the Mediterranean by an international group of scientists which included members of Oceana. Sympagella delauzei is the name that has been given to this new species of glass sponge (Hexactinellid), which measures between 8 and 14 centimetres including the stalk, and which is found at depths … Read more
Denmark presented plans for six new marine protected areas (MPAs) in Kattegat, which connects the Baltic and North Seas. The new MPAs will be protected from dangerous human activity, such as bottom trawling, which disturbs seafloor habitat. The new MPAs have been selected in part from Oceana’s findings of rare Haploops crustaceans and horse mussel … Read more
In October 2014, the Danish government published a new report – a plan for the Danish Nature. As a marine NGO, Oceana was of course highly interested in seeing how much the plan dealt with the marine environment, but it really was a pleasure to learn that the marine environment was not neglected in the … Read more
Seco de los Olivos (aka Chella Bank) was chosen for protection within Natura 2000, the network that gathers together the most valuable natural areas of the EU. Oceana spent five years studying this seamount in south east Spain. Its range of depths varies between 76 and 700 metres below the surface, so it could only … 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.
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