Last Thursday, at seven in the evening, the Oceana Ranger research catamaran, property of the international marine conservation organisation Oceana, detected a Moroccan fishing vessel nine miles east of Alboran Island, setting an illegal driftnet measuring over five meters in length in Spanish waters and within the Alboran fishing reserve. The Ranger was in the … Read more
In 2006, the marine research and conservation organization, Oceana, undertook a campaign against the use with driftnets in the Mediterranean. Investigators documented swordfish fisheries carried out by Moroccan vessels with driftnets in waters of the Alboran Sea, and the presence of this destructive fishing gear in Moroccan ports. Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in … Read more
Last year, on the initiative of Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg, the European Commission presented a proposal to introduce a full definition of a driftnet. A number of driftnet fleets, including the French thonaillers have exploited the lack of a definition to flout the EU driftnet ban and continue using their illegal gear. This new definition … Read more
Based on the preliminary results, Oceana is asking for the repeal of the Italian decree authorising the use of the driftnets known as ferrettara. Driftnets, banned by the European Union since 2002, continue to pose a threat to the conservation of marine mammals and fish stocks in the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The international … Read more
Today the Council of EU Fisheries Ministers put off agreement on legislation defining a driftnet, which would have closed a loophole in the EU law banning their use, enabling many vessels to flout the ban. Oceana calls on Ministers to agree this legislation by the end of June and also to take other urgent measures … Read more
Tons of endangered bluefin tuna are captured every year using fishing practices banned by the European Union and the United Nations. Despite the harassment, threats and attacks inflicted on the Oceana Ranger vessel by the French driftnetting fleet, known as thonaillers, Oceana has managed to circulate images showing that this fleet of dozens of French … Read more
Oceana is sceptical about this and demands effective control measures to ensure compliance with international agreements. The last step was taken in the approval of the fishing agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on February 27, in Rabat. This agreement destines €161 million to Morocco as economic compensation in exchange for … Read more
Oceana congratulates the Euro MPs for approving this definition and hopes for the quick approval by the European Union Council of Fisheries Ministers. Driftnets constitute an indiscriminate fishing method, banned by the General Assembly of the United Nations, by the European Union in 2002 and by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) in … Read more
The discarded fish constitute 8% of the total weight of the world’s captures, or more than 7.3 million tons of fish that are thrown away at sea. Oceana affirms that this practice is most troubling in the European Union’s Atlantic fisheries. One out of every 6 kilos of fish captured in Europe never reaches the … Read more
The Italian Legislative Department has recently backed the new “zero tolerance” policy recently announced by Paolo de Castro, the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Fishing, declaring it illegal for vessels to carry driftnets, known as “spadare” on board. These nets have been prohibited by the EU since 2002. This decision precedes the publication of a … Read more
Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana.
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.
