New Marine Protected Areas in Kattegat Almost a Reality

The Danish Minister of Environment, Kirsten Brosbøl, and the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Dan Jørgensen, have submitted a joint proposal to establish six new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Kattegat in order to protect its soft-bottom habitats. Soft-bottom represents around one-quarter of the Danish part of the Kattegat but currently remain completely … Read more

Denmark’s proposal for protecting vulnerable marine habitats lacks ambition

The government’s proposal is intended to protect specific soft-bottom habitats in the Kattegat, of which some are red-listed. In a joint statement, the four conservation organisations stress that larger areas of seabed should be protected than the government suggests. The organisations also argue that all Kattegat fisheries should only operate with environmentally-friendly equipment. “The government’s … Read more

The unknown status of Atlantic blue sharks

Last week, Oceana attended an international meeting on blue sharks that was held in Tenerife, Spain, by ICCAT (the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas).  The meeting was the first of two for this year’s assessment of blue sharks in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea – the first ICCAT assessment that has … Read more

Six percent in six years

Earlier this week, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Affairs hosted an important screening: the wrap-up documentary of the LIFE+ INDEMARES project. LIFE+ INDEMARES is a turning point in marine conservation in Spain, since it has allowed the country to propose ten new Sites of Community Importance (SCI), increasing the marine protected surface … Read more

European Parliament votes for a sustainable future for Baltic Sea fisheries.

Today, the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament voted in Brussels on a multiannual management plan (MAP) for fisheries in the Baltic Sea, the first MAP under the reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The plan addresses the long-term management of the major commercial stocks of cod, sprat and herring, and also provides measures for some … Read more

Scientists back up Oceana’s proposal to protect juvenile fish in the Mediterranean Sea

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

Oceana proposes protection of key fish nursery areas in the Mediterranean

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

Management matters: Ridding the Baltic Sea of paper parks

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