Oceana is sceptical about this and demands effective control measures to ensure compliance with international agreements. The last step was taken in the approval of the fishing agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on February 27, in Rabat. This agreement destines €161 million to Morocco as economic compensation in exchange for … Read more
The Italian Legislative Department has recently backed the new “zero tolerance” policy recently announced by Paolo de Castro, the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Fishing, declaring it illegal for vessels to carry driftnets, known as “spadare” on board. These nets have been prohibited by the EU since 2002. This decision precedes the publication of a … Read more
Despite the fact that driftnets have been banned in the Mediterranean for many years, a fleet of Moroccan fishing vessels continues to use this destructive fishing gear in the Alboran Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar, setting nets up to 12 kilometres long. Oceana, the marine conservation organisation, estimates that this fleet is made up … Read more
In order to avoid being extradited to the United States and sentenced to prison, Vidal must cease all activities related to Chilean sea bass fishing The uruguayan company Fidalur, controlled by Antonio Vidal, must cease its activities and disband within 45 days. The company has also been ordered to pay a $100,000 fine The international … Read more
The continued detentions of fishing vessels under Spanish and other EU flags by Norwegian patrols in Northeast Atlantic waters highlight the weakness of fishing regulations to take on the offenders and the lack of political willpower to put an end to these legal loopholes. This year, the fishing vessels Arosa 9, Arosa 12 and Arosa … Read more
The Moroccan netters are overfishing the stocks of swordfish and killing 15,000 dolphins, pilot whales, sperm whales and other cetaceans, as well as 100,000 sharks per year. As soon as the illegal fishing activity of the Italian and French drift netters was documented during the months of June and July, the Oceana Ranger research catamaran … Read more
The Director of Oceana in Europe, Xavier Pastor, has written a letter to the Italian Government’s Fisheries Minister, Mr. Paolo de Castro, in which he describes the preliminary results of the report that Oceana is preparing dealing with the Italian fleet’s use of illegal driftnets. This report, which will be sent to the European Union … Read more
During the Oceana Ranger’s recent expedition in the Tyrrhenian Sea, the crew on board the environmental organisation’s catamaran witnessed an interaction between illegal driftnetters and large purse-seiners congregating around the tuna fattening cages to the north of the Aeolian Islands in Sicily. This situation could well be taking place at other tuna-fattening farms. Once the … Read more
The EU Council of Fisheries Ministers is to debate next week the management of Mediterranean fisheries. Oceana condemns the fact that the EU has spent tens of millions of Euros in its attempt to eliminate driftnets, yet there are still some 200 European fishing boats that continue to use them. “European citizens are being swindled … Read more
Along the last three weeks, the Oceana Ranger catamaran has sailed a thousand miles in the Thyrrenian sea, close to the south Italian and Sicilian coasts. The Ranger crew has been able to report the activity of dozens of fishing boats using driftnets which were banned by the European Union four years ago. These boats … 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.
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