All bar two of Scotland’s 24 offshore benthic Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were damaged by bottom-towed fishing gears in 2020, making their ‘protected’ status mere lines on a paper map. Oceana recorded over 44,000 fishing hours using bottom-towed gear in inshore and offshore MPAs in the Scottish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in 2020. The analysis … Read more
If space is the ‘final frontier’, the ocean depths are no doubt the ultimate frontier. To this day it is hard to imagine, despite all our advanced technology, that we know more about the surface of the moon — hundreds of thousands of kilometers away — than of the complex ecosystems that inhabit the ocean’s deep … Read more
The North Sea is one of the most heavily impacted water bodies in the world. Centuries of human activities have placed its marine ecosystems under heavy pressure, resulting in extensive and significant changes in ecosystem structure and function. Intensive fishing activity – particularly bottom-trawling – has driven the near disappearance of certain species and habitats, … Read more
The waters of the North Sea surrounding Aberdeenshire (Figure 1) are characterised by a wide range of geological and geomorphological features that, in turn, host a diverse array of marine biotypes and species. One area of particular interest is the Southern Trench, located along the south coast of the Moray Firth. The origin of this … Read more
Borkum Stones (also known as Borkum Reef Grounds, and as Borkumse Stenen in Dutch and Borkum Riffgrund in German) is located in the southern North Sea, and encompasses waters of both the Netherlands and Germany. The Dutch part of Borkum Stones lies seven nautical miles north of Schiermonnikoog (one of the Wadden Islands) and covers … Read more
Oceana calls on the UK to protect at least 10% of UK seas in Highly Protected Marine Areas. At present, about 30% of UK seas are designated as Marine Protected Areas, but most are “paper parks” – protected only in name. With the UK government soon to release a review into Highly Protected Marine Areas … Read more
The Norwegian waters of the North Sea represent an exceptional enclave of marine biodiversity in the region, with an array of ecological features that distinguish it from the rest of the North Sea. In particular, the Norwegian Trench (also known as the Norwegian Deep) – which reaches depths of roughly 700 m – represents the deepest … Read more
The northern waters of the Danish North Sea extend from the west coast of the northern part of the Jutland peninsula, northwards to the Skagerrak, and westwards to the north-western banks of Little Fisher Bank and Jutland Bank (Lillefiskerbanke and Jyske Rev, respectively, in Danish). These waters cover a wide range of depths and seabed … Read more
Eight nations (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) border the North Sea, many of which are densely populated; approximately 184 million people live in its catchment areas.6 As a result, the North Sea has become very industrialised. Its fisheries, oil and gas extraction, shipping, harbours, and wind farms are of high … Read more
The waters off Holderness, north of the Humber Estuary on the Yorkshire coast, represent a very rich area in terms of marine biodiversity. This is partly due to the mosaic of substrate types found in the area, which range from rocky bottoms and coarse sediment through to mixed sediment, sand, and mud. This array of … 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.
