Gathered data will also support advocacy efforts to ban bottom trawling in European Marine Protected Areas Single-use plastics, abandoned fishing gear, and untreated waste most common pollutants found in seven-day expedition Madrid – Oceana concluded its expedition to the Alboran Sea (South of Spain), where the organisation gathered first-hand evidence of plastic pollution and bottom … Read more
As a result of Oceana’s advocacy, four deep-sea coral species will now be protected in the Mediterranean. The UN’s Barcelona Convention, a multi-country regional sea convention, voted in favor of adding four additional coral species – cockscomb cup coral, yellow-tree coral, yellow coral and bamboo coral – to the list of endangered or threatened species … Read more
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 trawling … Read more
Mediterranean countries have committed to develop new management measures for vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) by 2018 at the latest. These unique ecosystems include cold water coral reefs, gardens of soft corals and deep-sea sponge aggregations, which are frequently associated with high levels of biodiversity. The first action will be to define a list of Mediterranean … Read more
The distribution of many coral species remains unknown today. The well known species are the ones that are commercially exploited, but there are many little known or completely unknown species with unlikely geographical distributions. Apart from direct harvesting of some species, other factors also negatively affect coral populations, including bottom trawling and the climate change, both due … Read more
The international marine conservation organization has also documented a great biological wealth in the funds of Sa Dragonera, which should be kept The international organization of Oceana marine conservation has published a report with the results of its 2014 Balearic Islands expedition, on the seamounts of the channel of Mallorca (Ausiàs March, Emile Baudot and … Read more
In this paper, the state of the art about the knowledge of the biodiversity of Invertebrates (minus Arthropods) in general and, particularly in Spain, is exposed, giving numerical data of the reported or estimated species of each group of this heterogeneous aggregation of animal Phyla. Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural – Spanish (PDF) Download “Biodiversity … Read more
Coral gardens are vulnerable and sensitive habitats protected by the OSPAR Commission. Knowledge on their distribution is essential to provide protection and integration in marine protected areas and also for marine spatial planning actions. In the southwest coast of Portugal deep water coral gardens (50-80m) are characterized by several gorgonians species such as Paramuricea clavata … 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.
