Recent Discoveries of Extensive Cold-Water Coral Assemblages in Maltese Waters Recent deep-water remotely operated vehicle surveys around the Maltese Islands resulted in the discovery of highly diverse habitats, including extensive hard bottom areas dominated by gorgonians and living cold-water corals with a rich variety of associated fauna. Black coral (Leiopathes glaberrima) forests were dominant at … Read more
Executive Summary The Aeolian archipelago, off the northern coast of Sicily, has long been recognised as a major area of importance for marine biodiversity. The waters surrounding these volcanic islands are characterised by steeply sloped bottoms that host a wide array of habitats – including seagrass meadows, seamounts, and hydrothermal vents – over a large … Read more
Reinforcing the EU’s multilateral actions to promote best practices The environmental and economic viability of global fisheries remains in crisis, with many fish populations managed within Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) Convention areas overfished and at times at risk of collapsing. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing significantly contributes to this problem. Strengthening fisheries governance … Read more
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There is increasing interest in the Spanish seafood supply chain for fisheries and aquaculture to be more environmentally and socially sustainable. For businesses to ensure more sustainable seafood is part of their strategic planning and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), they must make specific sourcing policy commitments and set defined, time-bound and measurable indicators. This policy must be public and easily accessible. … Read more
Abstract The tube-building polychaete Sabellaria spinulosa (Ross worm) can form conspicuous biogenic reefs that stabilize the seabed and increase biodiversity by providing a habitat for a multitude of other species. These reefs, however, are assumed to be vulnerable to human-induced physical disturbances of the seabed. In the Greater North Sea, S. spinulosa reefs are recognized to be under threat … Read more
Summary The reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was agreed in 2013 and entered into force on 1st January 2014. Among its many innovations, the 2013 regulation introduced, for the first time, a legal requirement to achieve the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) exploitation rate, as well as an obligation to land all catches. Both are inextricably … Read more
One of the aspects behind the critical situation of Mediterranean stocks is the high exploitation rate of juveniles in many demersal fi sheries. The fisheries management in place today has brought most of assessed stocks outside safe biological limits (FAO, 2017) and some of them face a high risk of biological collapse, such ascommercially-important hake … Read more
Executive Summary While the UK Government has long championed sustainable fisheries policy, including the much needed and radical reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2013, in practice the UK is still one of the worst offenders for continuing to fish above scientific advice3. Key fishing waters for UK vessels – such as North … Read more
We call on MEPs to support the Commission’s proposal to: Ensure that exploitation of living marine biological resources restores and maintains populations of harvested species above levels which can produce the Maximum SustainableYield (MSY) (Articles 3.1, 7.1 and 7.2); Contribute to the elimination of discards by avoiding and reducing, as far as possible, unwanted catches … Read more
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