The research catamaran of the international organisation for marine conservation, Oceana, is at this moment sailing in the Gulf of Genoa, where it is filming the ecosystems of the sea bottom. The aim is to document the state of conservation of a number of habitats which the organisation would like to see included in the … Read more
The federations of Fishermen’s Associations of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country have written to the Ministry of Agriculture demanding the abolition of bottom trawling in the 12 miles of Spanish territorial waters in the North Atlantic, a request that Oceana has been making since 2003. Ever since Oceana was established in Europe, this … Read more
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
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
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
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
For seven years, Oceana has fought for the protection of these beds, which host threatened habitats that are essential for fishing. The Spanish Secretary for Fishing Affairs of the Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Environment and other involved sectors have reached an agreement to prohibit trawling over the coralligenous communities and rhodolites beds on the … Read more
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
Agglutinated foraminifera make a relatively diverse group of organisms, which is taxonomically defined as a subclass (Textulariia) and comprises four orders. The orders are based upon gross morphology, wall structure, and cement composition (Kaminski 2004). The cement that binds the test together may be organic (as in the Astrorhizida), calcareous and canaliculate (as in the … Read more
As of tomorrow, all sharks caught in European waters or by European vessels will have to be landed with their fins still naturally attached. Celebrating the arrival of the long-awaited, strict EU ban on shark finning, Oceana welcomes the new EU regulation’s entry into effect, on Saturday. It ends nearly a decade of battle to … 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.
