Acidification is one of the consequences of excessive CO2 emissions, which have accelerated climate change, one of the most important challenges humanity has to face in this century. The climate has constantly varied throughout the planet’s history due to the changes related to solar or volcanic activity, but since the Industrial Revolution, human action has … Read more
Did you know that the climate change is the main cause of the disappearance of corals and gorgonians in the Mediterranean? Increased global temperature is causing a series of significant changes around the world. Melting ice caps and glaciers cause the sea level to rise, hurricanes are stronger and more frequent, droughts alternate with floods in coastal … Read more
Since the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been increasing, this has been closely followed by an increase in global temperatures. Global warming is an increase in the Earth’s temperature caused by an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases make up the blanket surrounding the planet … Read more
Seafood fraud is the practice of misleading consumers about their seafood in order to increase profits. Along with ripping off shoppers, these actions can have negative impacts on marine conservation efforts and human health. Types of seafood fraud include substituting one species for another without changing the label, including less seafood in the package than … Read more
The deep-sea starts at 200 m below the surface, where sunlight does not penetrate – but where fisheries still operate, reaching down to more than 1500 m. Most deep-sea fisheries in the North-East Atlantic sprang up in the second half of the 20th century, after the decline of traditional continental shelf stocks, and with the aid … Read more
For decades, EU fisheries subsidies have fuelled the growth of the EU fleet to a level estimated to be two to three times higher than what the ocean can sustainably provide and then artificially maintained the overcapacity of the fleet, driving the overfishing of our seas. Yet the vast majority of Europe’s fishing fleets is … Read more
Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is the tool used to establish maximum fishing limits during a certain timeframe and for each one of the species controlled by management plans. Scientific recommendations for each marine area specified by the FAO (ICES fishing areas) are used to establish catch possibilities. Currently, the TAC system is not working correctly because … Read more
Located in front of the coast of Almeria (southeast Spain), the Chella Bank (Seco de los Olivos in Spanish) is a seamount whose top is found at a depth of 80 metres. It is a set of elevations that houses a very rich biodiversity, including deep-sea coral reefs, cetaceans, sharks and lots of fish. Oceana … Read more
The largest Posidonia reef that can be found throughout Spain and the Mediterranean is located in Baleares, in the Ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera protected area. It is considered the world’s oldest organism, around 100,000 years old, as its origin dates from the Pleistocene epoch. Erroneously considered a type of seaweed, Posidonia (Posidonia oceanica) is a seagrass … Read more
Oceana also completed studies on the most important seamounts in the Mallorca Channel, known as Emile Baudot, Ses Olives and Ausias March. These seamounts form the border between the Algerian and Balearic sub-basins, which are very different from each other, making this an area of characteristic oceanographic, geological and ecological conditions that constitutes a habitat … 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.
