Since 2003, Oceana has achieved dozens of concrete policy victories for marine life and habitats in Europe. From stopping bottom trawling in sensitive habitat areas to protecting sea turtles from commercial fishing gear, our victories represent a new hope for the world's oceans.
June 15, 2009
Spain will protect marine habitats
In honor of World Environment Day on June 5th and to implement the European Union’s commitment with the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Spanish government announced the creation of ten new Marine Protected Areas in Spain’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Oceana has played a key role in identifying and proposing protections for marine areas of interest in an effort led by the Spanish government to implement the European Union’s biodiversity goals.
June 10, 2009
Spain saving sharks
Spain’s Ministry of Environment and Fisheries Council committed to regulations prohibiting catches of thresher and hammerhead sharks – just two of the many shark species throughout European waters that are endangered. Following defeat of this same proposal through the international ICCAT (link9) process in late 2008, the Spanish government promised Oceana it would pursue these prohibitions through domestic legislation.
March 15, 2009
Ending excessive antibiotic use in Chilean salmon farms
After campaigning by Oceana, the Chilean government committed to ending the excessive use of antibiotics in salmon farms. This will stop the overuse of antibiotics created for human health, end the overpopulation of salmon pens, lessen the amount of waste and salmon released into the marine environment and slow down the expansion of the industry fjords of Patagonia.
March 10, 2009
U.S. House protects sharks
After campaigning by Oceana, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Shark Conservation Act of 2009, which improves existing laws to prevent shark finning by requiring that sharks be landed with their fins still naturally attached in all U.S. waters.
March 6, 2009
Expanding the MPA in Cabrera
After Oceana released a report about Cabrera, one of Spain’s Balearic Islands, the Balearic government used it as the scientific basis to expand the MPA in the region.
February 15, 2009
Protecting the Arctic from industrial fishing
After years of work by Oceana and other conservation groups, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to prevent the expansion of industrial fishing into all U.S. waters north of the Bering Strait in order to limit stress on ocean ecosystems in light of the dramatic impacts of global climate change in the Arctic. The decision is one of the largest precautionary measures in fisheries management history. Oceana has now protected more than one million square miles of ocean in the Pacific.
February 7, 2009
The European Commission released the Community Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks
Many of Europe’s shark and related ray populations have been depleted in the past 30 years, primarily due to fisheries overexploitation by large European shark fishing fleets. The Plan of Action does include some positive aspects, including a shark discard ban and a requirement to land shark fins and bodies at the same time and in the same port.
February 5, 2009
The European Court of Justice formally ruled against France for its failure to control the illegal use by its fleet of driftnets in the Mediterranean.
The Court also formally denied France’s request to consider future exemptions for its fleet from the EU driftnet ban. In Italy, the Calabrian prosecutor formally charged several driftnetters for illegal activities and has since kept them ashore under house arrest.
January 15, 2009
Future transboundary French-Spanish MPA
The Spanish Ministry of Enviroment and Rural and Marine Affairs start cooperating with France to declare a cross-border marine protected area at Creus Cap waters together with the Marine Protected Park existent at French waters. Oceana has studied this marine area and has provided to the Spanish Government this scientific information to ask for this protection.
January 10, 2009
Protecting sea turtles from longlines
After months of pressure from Oceana and other groups, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council initiated a six-month emergency rule prohibiting longline fishing gear in waters where sea turtles forage, effective as soon as possible. According to recent government data, nearly 1,000 sea turtles were caught by bottom longlines in this fishery in just 18 months, eight times the federally authorized limit. The U.S. government has determined that every species of sea turtle in the United States is threatened or endangered by extinction.
