Europe’s fishing grounds were once amongst the most productive in the world, but thirty years of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) have resulted in serious depletion of fish populations, ecosystem degradation, and damage to species, habitats and sites. Today, 63% of the assessed stocks in the Atlantic are overfished, 82% of the assessed stocks in … Read more
The Baltic Sea is one of the most peculiar seas in the world. With an average depth of only 55 meters, it is much shallower than oceans. The salinity of the Baltic Sea varies from levels similar to the ocean in Kattegat to sweetwater salinity levels in the Bay of Bothnia. Besides its unique biodiversity, … Read more
State of resources As concluded in the Communication from the Commission concerning Fishing Opportunities, fish stocks in European waters are improving. This is confirmed by the downward trend in the number of overfished and collapsed stocks. But the progress achieved in European fisheries management in relation to the fishing opportunities is clearly insufficient and Oceana … Read more
Many shark species migrate great distances across our oceans, crossing various jurisdictional boundaries along the way. These sharks, like tunas and swordfish, call large swaths of the oceans home and their populations cannot be claimed or effectively managed by any one country. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the primary … Read more
Management of Mediterranean swordfish has repeatedly been neglected to the detriment of the species. The ICCAT Standing Committee for Research and Statistics has assessed this stock as overexploited, with spawning biomass below sustainable levels and with 50-70% of catches comprised of juvenile fish. The complete absence of real management measures makes the Mediterranean swordfish fishery … Read more
Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have engaged with issues surrounding fisheries subsidiesfor many years, including actively participating in discussions on EU fisheries subsidies and their reformsince the late 1990s. The reform of fisheries subsidies is also an important agenda item in the World TradeOrganization subsidy reform debate. While there have been some past successes in terms … Read more
Given the diversity of possible appearances of some habitats contained in the OSPAR List of Endangered and/or Declining species and habitats across the North East Atlantic, a more precise description of the habitat as it occurs in relation to different substrates, depths and regions will need to be developed. When defining habitats, there are several … Read more
The world’s oceans are nearing irreversible collapse. Most of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited or facing overexploitation and depletion. In Europe, the oceans are equally in crisis. Only a minority of commercially fished stocks have been assessed or are managed. Of the fish stocks that have been scientifically assessed, the majority are overfished. An … Read more
In this document Oceana reviews the current state of regional protection initiatives in the Mediterranean Basin and presents a varied proposal for the protection of marine areas which it considers essential for maintaining a balance in the Mediterranean Basin and achieving good environmental status. The objective of the aforementioned proposal is to contribute to the … Read more
The carnivorous sponge Asbestopluma hypogea, was known only from shallow submarine caves (-15 to -26 m) in the Western Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic. Herein A. hypogea is reported from outside of caves, on seamounts in the Alboran Sea (-167 m), off the Balearics (-100 m) and north off Sicily (-660 m), and along steep … 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.
