Phasing Out Bottom Trawling in European Waters Archives

Oceana condemns Mediterranean countries for delaying permanent protection of age-old coral from deep-sea fishing

This week, Mediterranean countries have failed to adopt permanent measures banning destructive fishing practices – like bottom trawling – over parts of the Cabliers Bank, a 400,000-year-old coral reef in the Alboran Sea. Oceana strongly criticises this decision, which leaves such a biodiversity hotspot vulnerable to fishing impacts, and weakens the prospects of establishing a … Read more

Most EU citizens want political leaders to prioritise ocean protection and to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas, new polls reveal

Polls expose gap between people’s opinion of marine protection in Europe and the stark reality Nearly 9 in 10 citizens (86%) surveyed across seven EU countries expect their political leaders to prioritise the protection of marine biodiversity, according to the results of national polls conducted by Sapience and published today. The study further identifies that, … Read more

A quantification of bottom towed fishing activity in marine Natura 2000 sites

There are over 2100 marine Natura 2000 sites designated across Europe’s seas under the EU Habitats Directive. Member States have designated such sites to protect and recover both important marine habitats such as reefs and sandbanks and a range of iconic species including the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and grey and … Read more

EU-wide campaign launched to end destructive fishing in Europe’s protected waters: 90% of ‘protected’ waters still targeted

Leading civil society organisations have launched a campaign calling on the EU to take tougher action against EU countries that still allow bottom trawling in their Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), after a new report reveals that the destructive fishing practice is still taking place in 90% of offshore EU MPAs. The report, co-authored by Marine … Read more

European Parliament at risk of backpedaling on marine protection ambition

Plenary likely to approve report by Fisheries Committee that supports destructive fishing and undermines Parliament’s position on biodiversity targets Marine NGOs Seas At Risk and Oceana are sounding the alarm that the European Parliament is poised to adopt a report on the Marine Action Plan (1) on 18 January supporting destructive fishing. The report was … Read more

Three out of four Spanish trawlers fished in marine protected areas in 2022

The information is distilled from official data from the General Secretariat for Fisheries Trawling, one of the most destructive fishing methods, is allowed in marine protected areas despite being a threat to the ocean and the sustainability of the fishing sector Three-quarters of the vessels that bottom trawled in Spain last year did so, at … Read more

Extending the deep-sea bottom fishing ban in the Mediterranean Sea

The ocean is the largest planetary carbon sink. It stores equivalent amounts of carbon to terrestrial ecosystems and removes around one-third of CO2 emitted by human activity. Healthy marine ecosystems capture and lock in carbon, acting as a nature-based solution to the climate crisis. Deepwater marine sediments and soft bottoms are considered a critical reservoir … Read more

Oceana launches expedition to research the destructive impacts of bottom trawling in Spanish waters

Today, Oceana is launching an expedition to the Alboran Sea to document fisheries and gather evidence of the impact caused by bottom trawling on vulnerable seabed habitats and iconic species. The data gathered will serve as evidence to show EU decision-makers that bottom trawling in marine protected areas must be prohibited. Pascale Moehrle, Executive Director … Read more

Isidella elongata(Cnidaria: Alcyonacea) facies in the western Mediterranean Sea: visual surveys and descriptions of its ecological role

Abstract Isidella elongata is a candelabrum-shaped alcyonacean forming important facies on the bathyal muddy bottoms of the Mediterranean Sea, currently considered a sensitive habitat and heavily impacted by deep-sea fisheries. Until a few decades ago, this facies was a widespread habitat of the deep Mediterranean seabed and I. elongata was a common species in the … Read more

The cascade effect and trawling

We have all heard the term “cascade effect” used to refer to how a government decision, a war, a political event, or other situation impacts society, the economy, prices, and so on. This expression is also used in ecology to explain how human action, a catastrophic event, or a particular incident, for instance, can have … Read more