Blog
10 days to failure in the Med
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: September 11, 2012It’s not looking good for habitat and species protection in the Mediterranean, a big deadline is coming up and EU Member States from the region are failing to meet their obligations, despite the looming threat of financial penalties. But let me rewind a bit, to give you a bit of background.
Read More...What is the limit of a coastal state’s rights to the marine area surrounding it?
Author: Cristina Lopez de las Heras (Volunteer)
Date: September 4, 2012A country’s territory expands to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the coast, or if its continental shelf goes beyond that limit, it can extend further, to 350 miles. In order to be granted this extension, a country must provide sufficient geological and morphological arguments in support of this claim.
Read More...Give sharks a break
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: August 31, 2012In the past few weeks, shark attacks in Reunion and more recently in Australia have prompted calls on authorities to kill sharks to protect surfers and swimmers.
Since it’s such a touchy subject, we asked our shark expert, Allison Perry, her thoughts, which we wanted to share with you:
Read More...Oil Exploration and Marine Protected Areas in the Canaries: Hardly Compatible
Author: Cristina Lopez de las Heras (Volunteer)
Date: August 9, 2012The Habitats Directive is the most important EU environmental legislation, requiring EU Member States to protect specific habitat types by incorporating them into a network of protected areas (both on land and at sea) called Natura 2000. But it’s not looking like every country is going to meet their requirements.
Read More...Banning deep-sea bottom trawling
Author: Cristina Lopez de las Heras (Volunteer)
Date: July 20, 2012Imagine a Boeing 747 (without passengers) landing without control on a natural park filled with century old trees and other species of great ecological value…
Read More...How do jellyfish reproduce?
Author: Cristina Lopez de las Heras (Volunteer)
Date: July 13, 2012It’s summer time, which means that jellyfish are back in the news – recent reports describe thousands clogging beaches in Spain. We thought it might be interesting to look into their reproductive ways and it turns out jellyfish have a rather interesting lifecycle. Interested in learning more?
When jellyfish mate, the male's sperm fertilizes the female egg and the zygote is formed, which grows into a planula larva.
Read More...Victory: 10 species of threatened sharks and rays get protected
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: July 11, 2012Good news readers! Great news, actually: Yesterday, EU has finally voted in favour of strictly protecting ten threatened species of sharks and rays in the Mediterranean Sea, under the Barcelona Convention. These species, including hammerheads, tope, and shortfin mako, have declined dramatically in numbers – some by as much as 99% during the last century – while others have vanished from parts of the Mediterranean where they were once common. Oceana has been on this issue for the past year and a half and we couldn’t be any happier about this outcome.
Read More...State of the World Fisheries gets a bad report card
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: July 9, 2012Every two years, the FAO releases a report called the State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture, and every two years, those of us who follow the issue are disappointed by dismal statistics. This year, 87% of evaluated stocks were fully or over-exploited, up 2% from the last FAO report.
Read More...Overfishing: a video
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: July 3, 2012As part of our policy work on reforming the Common Fisheries Policy, Oceana often teams up with other NGOs in the area so as to maximize our influence on decision makers in Brussels and the EU.
Here’s a great video that came out of this partnership that clearly explains the scale of the overfishing problem. It was made by Ocean2012 and we signed onto it along with Greenpeace and Birdlife International.
Read More...Remembering Cousteau
Author: Angela Pauly
Date: June 25, 2012Today marks 15 years since the death of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, a name that is synonymous with the ocean. This French conservationist, diver, filmmaker, author, photographer (and the list goes on) is responsible for educating millions around the world about the wonders of the world’s oceans – and today, we want to honor that legacy and remember it.
One can’t help but wonder: if he were alive today, how would he feel about the state of the oceans he spent his entire life exploring? Would he be proud of how Europe is managing its seas?
Read More...
