Sharks in the Baltic Sea & Kattegat

When you hear about sharks, most people automatically think about the tropics and crystal clear blue waters. But the truth is that there are sharks all around the world, even in the cold waters of the Baltic Sea. In fact, 31 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras (class of Cartilaginous fish-Chondrichthyes), have been recorded in … Read more

The Critically Endangered European eel

Holidays are here and many people in Europe go out and buy some eel for their Christmas dinners, as they do every year. But what many might not know is that the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is critically endangered and threatened with extinction. To provide some perspective, this threat level is higher than that given … Read more

Oceana celebrates Finnish Sea trout fishing ban

Oceana welcomes last Friday’s decision by the authorities of Uusimaa and the Southeast Finland Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment to ban wild sea trout fisheries in the Gulf of Finland. The ban applies to all types of fisheries (including recreational) in the territorial waters beyond the coastal waters. Following the release of … Read more

EU Fisheries ministers increase quotas for vulnerable species

Yesterday, the European Council agreed on the 2013 and 2014 TACs and quotas for deep-sea species. Oceana is deeply disappointed in the Fisheries Council agreement to increase TACs for many deep-sea stocks above levels proposed by the European Commission, which already were not ambitious enough to guarantee the responsible exploitation of these vulnerable species. On … Read more

New EU Marine Protected Areas

It’s always good news when new marine protected areas are put in place; and good news is always a cause for a celebration. This week, the European Commission adopted an updated list of Natura 2000 sites which includes new additions submitted by several Member States (Denmark,  Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Sweden and the UK). These areas … Read more

EU closes shark fisheries loopholes, goes “fins attached”

Oceana applauds the European Parliament for voting today in favour of a strict ban on shark finning, which will require all sharks caught in EU waters, and by EU vessels fishing worldwide, to be landed with their fins still naturally attached.  The measure closes long-standing enforcement loopholes in EU policy on shark finning, will improve … Read more

European Parliament to adopt a management plan for salmon in the Baltic Sea

On November 22nd, the European Parliament will vote to adopt a multiannual plan for salmon in the Baltic Sea. This species has suffered years of mismanagement through sporadic measures such as closed seasons and annual total allowable catches (TAC) set in total disregard of scientific advice, and is now listed as declining and/or threatened in … Read more