Since 2007, Oceana has been working on the expansion of the Cabrera Archipelago National Park. In 2007, a bionomic study was completed of the sea beds around the national park. The study documented the presence of important habitats like thick kelp forests, extraordinary coralline formations and rich maerl beds and gorgonian gardens outside the limits of the protected area, as well as the presence of species listed in international conventions, like black corals and even red corals, among others.
Currently, the protected area of Cabrera National Park is 8,703 hectares, or 7.5% of the currently protected area in the Balearic Islands. Four years ago, Oceana carried out various studies around the national park on board the Oceana Ranger and Marviva Med research vessels in order to promote its expansion to adjoining areas of great ecological importance due to the presence of coralline, maerl (avellanó) and deep-sea kelp forests, as well as other important habitats.
Cabrera's expansion would constitute a small step towards compliance with these objectives and the Balearic Islands would harbor the second largest national marine park in the Mediterranean, improving the archipelago’s environmental quality.
The data obtained was used to establish a series of recommendations, summarized below:
Prohibition on bottom trawling, industrial purse seine targeting tunas and recreational fishing in the entire area of expansion, given the direct repercussion of these activities on ecosystems, either by direct destruction or serious modification of the food chain.
Establishment of a closed census of ships authorized to fish in each one of the specified areas and for the entire area of expansion.
All the ships authorized to fish in the area will be equipped with a vessel monitoring system, following the system of green boxes implemented by the Autonomous Government of Andalusia in the Guadalquivir Fishing Reserve.
Bionomic Report on Cabrera (Spanish)
Proposal for expansion of Cabrera (Spanish)