According to Oceana, Iceland cannot sell its whale meat, but is still hunting

There is also concern about the health conditions of the meat due to high levels of contaminants accumulated in the tissue of these animals. Sources from the international marine conservation organisation Oceana indicated on Monday that the Icelandic vessel Hvalur 9 had captured a second whale, a lesser rorqual, 200 miles from the coast; this … Read more

New ICES report on dangerous decline in sharks

Responding to the new report from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) issued today, the Shark Alliance, a coalition of NGOs dedicated to science-based conservation of sharks said: “It’s there in black and white.  The serial depletion of sharks must stop and stop now”. The Report details the dangerous depletion of … Read more

Important decision of the Spanish Government to protect mediterranean marine habitats

The new Ministerial Order, which establishes an Integral Fisheries Management Plan for the Mediterranean Sea, includes for the first time the protection of habitats of great importance in the Mediterranean against the impact of bottom trawling, purse-seining and drag nets. Up until now, only the marine phanerogam Posidonia oceanica enjoyed this protection, but with the … Read more

Black-mouth goby in the Danish kitchen?

The black-mouth goby (Neogobius melanostomus), or round goby, is an invasive species here in the Baltic Sea. It was first seen in 1990 in the Gdansk Bay in Poland from where it quickly spread to the rest of the Baltic. Originally, it comes from the Black Sea and is thought to have come over in … Read more

Oceana to study unknown Emile Baudot escarpment in the Balearic Islands

Today marks the launch of Oceana’s 2013 Mediterranean Expedition, which is bound for the Emile Baudot escarpment, a large rocky wall to the south of the Balearic archipelago, of which nothing about its ecosystem is known. A team of scientists, technicians and videographers from Oceana will spend ten days studying the area, which lounges the … Read more

Meet & Greet: the Eelpout (Zoarces viviparous)

I’ve spent over a year analyzing hours of expedition videos taken by our underwater robot (the ROV). I have to say that you quickly start recognizing the usual suspects of fish and algae. One of the fish that is most commonly seen is the eelpout (Zoarces viviparous). It is a slimy skinned fish with lots … Read more

Mediterranean deep-sea corals in need of protection

Since the entry into force of the SPA/BD Protocol and its Annexes several amendments have been adopted in the framework of the Barcelona Convention bringing up to more than 150 the number of species listed in Annex II and more than 40 the number of species listed in Annex III. Such modifications have corresponded to … Read more