Bottom Trawling Archives

Oceana welcomes EU Commission proposal to phase out deep-sea bottom trawling in the Northeast Atlantic

Deep-sea species and habitats are extremely vulnerable to exploitation. Today, the European Commission published a strong draft regulation establishing access requirements and conditions applicable to deep sea fisheries in the Atlantic. Oceana is pleased with this significant step towards the sustainable use of deep marine resources and the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems. Among the … Read more

Red Coral, Red Alert?

Red coral (sometimes called precious coral) is widely used throughout the world for jewelry, and in beauty products. The human “appetite” for this stunning coral, which dates as far back as ancient Greece and Egypt, when red coral was considered to have sacred properties, has unfortunately led to the destruction of many red coral colonies, … Read more

Oceana warns that true extent of oceans’ depletion remains unknown

In two years’ time, the percentage of fully exploited, overexploited or depleted stocks has risen from 80% to 85% Oceana, the international marine conservation organisation, highlights the urgent need for better scientific data on worldwide fish stocks, following last night’s release of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) report on the State of World Fisheries … Read more

Belize bans bottom trawling in exclusive economic zone

All forms of trawling in Belize have been banned in the country’s waters including its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) when Fisheries Minister Rene Montero signed the Statutory Instrument effecting this legislative change today. The ban, effective December 31, 2010, is a historic decision by Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s administration, which has been making these environmentally … Read more

Oceana to the United Nations: Protect the Balearic seamounts

New report details proposal based on four years of undersea research in the Mallorca channel. Oceana has submitted a proposal to protect the main seamounts in the Mallorca channel (known as Ausias March, Ses Olives and Emile Baudot). The document was presented during the 11th session of the Sub-Committee on Marine Environment and Ecosystems of … Read more

Doñana and the Gulf of Cadiz

For thousands of years, the Gulf of Cádiz has been known for its ecological importance, as seen in ancient clasical texts mentioning the abundance of its fisheries and the presence of numerous animal species. From the fantastic stories of Strabo, who defined tuna as the “pigs of the sea” because they would feed off the … Read more

European trawlers are destroying the oceans

Nearly 100,000 vessels make up the European Union fishing fleet. This includes boats that fish both in EU waters (the domestic fleet), in the waters of other countries and in international waters (the deep-sea fleet). In addition, there is an unknown number of vessels belonging to other European countries that are not members of the … Read more

The seamounts of the Gorringe Bank

A seamount is a regarded as a geological elevation that reaches a minimum of 1,000 metres in height and can consist of very different physical, geological and chemical properties. Therefore, seamounts can only exist where there are sea beds more than one kilometre deep, or, which is one and the same thing, over 60%-62% of … Read more

Oceana urges the Balearic Government to prohibit trawling on the continental shelf

Oceana urges the Balearic government to prohibit bottom trawling on the continental shelf or at less than 150 meters depth. The international marine conservation organisation sent island authorities a series of comments on the new Fishing Law of the Balearic Islands that is currently being reviewed. In its analysis, Oceana also disagrees with the reduction … Read more

Overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction are threatening European Seas

Oceana denounces the severe deterioration of Europe’s oceans and seas and calls for immediate measures to halt the collapse of fish resources, the destruction of marine habitats and the pollution affecting its waters. On World Environment Day (5 June) and World Oceans Day (8 June), Oceana points out that European seas are among the most … Read more