Blog
What a week ahead!
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: December 17, 2012There is nothing like ending the year with a bang, and this week, a couple of major votes and decisions are coming up that will affect EU fisheries.
Read More...New EU Marine Protected Areas
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: November 27, 2012It’s always good news when new marine protected areas are put in place; and good news is always a cause for a celebration.
Read More...Europe stands against IUU fishing
Author: Amelie Malafosse
Date: November 15, 2012Did you know that illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing accounts for 15% of catches worldwide and that this business amounts to 10 billion euros annually? If you want an order of comparison, it is as if IUU fishing was the second biggest fishing “nation” in the world after China.
Read More...ICCAT 2012: Fate of Bluefin Tuna and Sharks Being Discussed
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: November 14, 2012This week, the annual ICCAT conference is underway in Agadir, Morocco. As some of you may know, Oceana has observer status at the ICCAT meeting, and two of our experts are on the ground as we speak.
Read More...Does paying subsidies pay off?
Author: Natividad Sánchez
Date: October 29, 2012After decision-makers having aired the agreement on fishing subsidies reached by EU fisheries ministers last week as a great victory, the time has come to pose a couple of uncomfortable questions: Is this really the best way of investing taxpayer money to promote fishing activities? Moreover, will these funds become actually spent, or will they remain as a nice headline in an old newspaper?
Read More...New neighbors discovered in Portugal
Author: Natividad Sánchez
Date: October 9, 2012The Berlengas islands are a nature reserve in front of the town of Peniche, Portugal, and a great example of how much more knowledge of the seabed we need. Though located only a few kilometers from the coast, in just two weeks we no less than 120 species were found whose existence was unknown in the area. Not only that, but four or five of them could be completely new to science. Amazing isn’t it?
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Pirate fishermen target deep-sea sharks for liver oil
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: October 5, 2012Pirate fishermen have found a gold mine in deep-sea sharks and are illegally catching these vulnerable species to sell their highly valued liver oil.
Read More...Hope for bluefin
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: September 25, 2012There is some hopeful news on the fate of the bluefin tuna – one of the iconic species of the Mediterranean, and one which has long been held as a frightening example of the effects of overfishing and illegal fishing.
Bluefin tuna, much favored by sushi lovers, was on the verge of collapse. In 2006, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) established a recovery plan for the stating the likelihood of recovering stocks to levels which can produce Maximum Sustainable Yield by 2022 to be 60%.
Read More...A step forward on the EU shark finning ban – but with a confusing twist
Author: Allison Perry
Date: September 19, 2012We took a huge step forward today, with the Fisheries Committee vote on the EU shark finning ban. The Committee voted to close major loopholes in the ban, which allowed some countries (namely Spain and Portugal) to land sharks with their fins already removed from their body, in separate ports, at separate times (making it very difficult to monitor whether the finning ban is being followed properly).
Read More...Ranger Expedition 2012: Exploring Ocean Depths
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: September 17, 2012It’s expedition time again; one of our favorite times of year!
Today, we launched the Oceana Ranger Expedition 2012 and this year’s focus will be on the deep sea areas of the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
We’ll be using our underwater robot (ROV) to take video footage and images of underwater mountains with peaks so deep that divers can’t get to them.
Seamounts are incredibly important to protect as they are home to a wide variety of species and habitats that occupy the many different heights and soil types along their banks.
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