The marine conservation research is progressing well this summer, with many key species being logged – such as this lovely Posidonia pipefish:

Volunteer divers are always needed to help with marine conservation research projects on the Costa Brava with Kenna Eco Diving. 

If you’re not a qualified diver yet, you can come and learn to dive with us, taking the PADI Open Water Course with native English-speaking instructors, and then join in with the Eco Diving to gain more underwater experience.

We love to have the participation of divers who care about protecting marine ecosystems. It is a wonderful way to enjoy Mediterranean diving whilst helping to conserve the marine environment, and gives budding marine biologists lots of underwater fieldwork experience.

Volunteers tends to come for anything from a few weeks to a couple of months, during April to October. To help volunteers’ budgets, the subsidised cost structure provides the best value for longer stays. The subsidised cost for Eco Dive volunteers starts from €148 per week, which includes all transfers, shared bunkhouse accommodation, and all volunteer Eco Diving. There are options for subsidised food, towel, linen/sleeping bag hire and dive equipment hire available (see: Booking Info page )

Volunteers usually do 2 dives per weekday, staying underwater for around an hour per dive (depending on air consumption) as the research sites are quite shallow. There is always plenty of time for underwater fun, exploration, underwater photography as well as collecting key species data.

Volunteers have the weekends off from Eco Diving to do other optional coastal dives, to visit the famous Medes Islands Marine Reserve, which is always a wonderful experience,  to do tourist stuff or just have a rest and enjoy L’Escala.

Come and get some sun and join in the scuba diving fun!

Email: eco@kennaecodiving.net NOW to check availability for this summer.

 

Several of these tiny molluscs were spotted in shallow water on returning from an Eco Dive on the Costa Brava. After searching various seaslug website they remain unidentified. 

Description:  2-3 cms long with an opaque, white body through which the innards can be seen as a dark mass. A definite external shell and black-tipped antennae.

Please post any suggestions as to the species. Thanks.

Divers Needed for Marine Conservation

Kenna Eco Diving is the local cooordinator for the SILMAR Project, carrying out marine conservation and research into Mediterranean coastal habitats. We need the assistance of Eco Dive Volunteers each year to gather underwater data on key species and will give you free training.

Volunteers only need to be qualified Open Water divers (or can take the PADI Open Water course in the Mediterranean with us). No prior marine biology knowledge is required as volunteers will be taught all they need to know to take part in the project.

This project presents a fantastic opportunity for marine biology students, or those considering this career, to gain invaluable fieldwork experience and to learn about the key Mediterranean species that influence EU conservation policy decisions. However, it is open to anyone with a keen interest in studying and preserving Mediterranean Sea life.

This is a unique opportunity to enjoy unlimited Mediterranean scuba diving as an Eco Dive Volunteer. All necessary marine research training is also provided free of charge. 

Please see the website for further details: http://marinebiology.kennaecodiving.net and contact us a.s.a.p. to book your place. As usual, slots are filling up quickly.

 

 

Eco Dive Volunteers Help to Map the Pipefish Habitat

Posidonia pipefish, Costa Brava  (Click to view video)

The home of this pipefish is the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, which is unique to the Mediterranean Sea and one of the key species being studied by Eco Dive Volunteers.

Posidonia oceanica became locked in the Mediterranean millions of years ago when the tectonic plates moved to leave only the small gateway to the Atlanitic. Other Posidonia species grow around southern Australia.

The Posidonia pipefish is perfectly adapted to its habitat, with a flattened head that resembles a Posidonia leaf. Although it is a protected species, Posidonia oceanica faces many threat to its survival due to the growing pressures placed upon Mediterranean coastal ecosystems.

There’s more info on Posidonia oceanica on my website.

I have also written in-depth articles on Posidonia oceanica for the MARBEF Wiki:

http://www.marbef.org/wiki/Mediterranean_seagrass_ecosystem

http://www.marbef.org/wiki/Posidonia_oceanica_%28Linnaeus%29_Delile

Come and assist with marine conservation to enjoy unlimited free scuba diving in the warm blue Mediterranean sea

This is a great opportunity to rack up your dives and spend loads of time underwater. You can also practice underwater photography during your dives.
All levels of diver welcome (or you can undertake your diver training here with us in the warm, blue Mediterranean. All scuba courses available, in English, Spanish, French or German, from PADI Open Water to Divemaster Internships).

This is an ideal trip for the cost conscious diver, student, eco traveller, especially if you’re into marine biology & conservation and want to gain some underwater field experience.

For more info on joining in and becoming an Eco Dive volunteer visit the website

Which Eco Diver will win the race to find the most seahorses and pipefish during 2010?

Bring your dive gear and join the race – starting April 2010!

See the website for more info on becoming an ecodive volunteer. Where else can you get free unlimited warm water diving?

Don’t let colds and flu spoil your dive fun

Black elderberry contains an anti-viral compound termed “antivirin” which has been shown in double-blind placebo controlled trials to reduce the severity and duration viral infections.  

With repeated worldwide virus scares in recent years there has never been a better time to introduce a proven natural anti-viral into your health regime so that you can stay fit and keep on diving!    

 

 

Come and enjoy a Mediterranean diving trip at a fraction of the normal cost by volunteering as an Eco Diver

Eco Divers are needed each year from April to October to help gather data on Mediterranean key species and habitats. This data is essential for conservation planning and coastal management.  Volunteers enjoy unlimited  warm water diving whilst volunteering and holidaying in the Mediterranean at subsidised rates starting from ONLY 148 Euros per week.

We carry out marine reseach in Cala Montgo, near L’Escala, on the Catalan coast,  as voluntary coodinators for the SILMAR Project, and conduct regular clean up activities for Project Aware.

This is a great opportunity to build up your log book, practice your bouyancy and underwater photography skills, learn about marine ecology and gain fieldwork experience.

Visit our Eco Divers’ website for more information and to book your place.

Here is a link to the English language version of the report:

SILMAR Project 2009 Report (English language)

Volunteers please note that all our marine conservation work is carried out in English.

http://wimp.com/dolphinbubbles/

Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries decided to close the bluefin tuna fishery to purse seiners in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic, due to the exhaustion of the quotas allocated to them, in early June.

France, Greece and Spain were informed of this decision which became effective as of 10th June. The closure of the purse seine fishery was necessary to protect the fragile stock of bluefin tuna and to ensure its recovery as envisaged by the recovery plan of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT). The Commission has declared a zero tolerance approach towards overfishing and will take all necessary measures to ensure full compliance across the board.

We dived and saw what could be the remaining Mediterranean fish!

Please sign the petition: www.ocean2012.eu/petition

Transforming European Fisheries from OCEAN2012 on Vimeo.

Please sign the petition:  www.ocean2012.eu/petition

Join us on a special dive to learn about the state of EU Fisheries

Fun fish ID Eco Boat Dive over the endangered seagrass meadows followed by free buffet & showing of End of the Line film

Sun 6th June at 13.00 at International Diving Center, The Port, L’Escala

Years of intensive fishing in European waters have led to dramatic declines in once abundant fish populations. Eighty percent of assessed EU fish stocks are overfished and more than 30 per cent are outside safe biological limits.

The 2012 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is an opportunity to stop overfishing, end destructive fishing practices and deliver fair and equitable use of abundant fish stocks. OCEAN2012 is an alliance of organisations dedicated to transforming European fisheries policy and to facilitating greater participation in the reform by broadening stakeholder involvement.

European Fish Week 2010 will take place from June 5^th to 13^th. It is a unique opportunity for everybody across Europe to play their part in making this a truly fundamental reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.

OCEAN2012 member groups and friends will be organising events and activities throughout Europe, such as film screenings, panel discussions, food tastings, beachside activities and much much more. Together, we will be calling on the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, to make environmental sustainability a prerequisite for a reformed Common Fisheries Policy. Make your voice heard!

To register for this special dive please contact gaynor@kennaecodiving.net

Europe’s new Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki opened her first fishing quota talks by stating that tougher measures were required to bring species back from danger to more commercially viable levels.

“I want to be clear that the quota levels set must respect all the European Union’s commitments to sustainability,” she said in a statement. However, her strategy will be hampered by widespread illegal fishing, a lack of data on the state of many stocks and fierce bargaining by coastal communities.

The Commission has proposed the establishment of an EU market for Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs), which it thinks will reduce overcapacity, improve conservation and maximise the economic efficiency of the fishing fleet.

OCEAN2012 has sent a letter to the members of the Fisheries Committee to share its position on the proposal. OCEAN2012 believes the phasing out of the current quota allocation system, replaced with a system that grants access based on a set of environmental and social criteria, is better placed to achieve sustainable fisheries.

About 60 percent of European Union fish stocks are outside safe biological limits. However, fishing nations  catch around 34 percent more than scientists say is sustainable. Portugal and Spain have quotas that are still set 55 percent above the levels advised by fisheries scientists, pushing southern hake and anchovy outside safe biological limits, the Commission said in its report.

A target has been set by the EU Commission to get fisheries back to Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) by 2015. However, some fish stocks are already so low that even if fishing stopped today MSY could not be achieved in that timescale.

The Pew Environment Group said Damanki’s strategy fell short on protection for deep sea fisheries. “For deep-sea fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic, the scientific advice is that all species, including endangered species of deep-sea sharks, are outside safe biological limits,” said Uta Bellion of the Pew group.

During European Shark Week 2009, over 300 activities were held in 15 European countries. Through these events, more than 93,000 people signed the petition urging Spain to end its opposition to improving the EU shark finning ban.

This year we need to keep the pressure on.

More than three years ago, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) called on the European Commission to strengthen the EU finning ban, which is currently fraught with loopholes and puts sharks at risk. Next year, the European Parliament will be asked to vote on a new regulation that the Commission members are drafting and will be issuing for consultation soon.

We need to ensure that MEPs, as our elected representatives, continue to press for what they called for more than three years ago and help close the loopholes.

The Shark Alliance will be working with MEPs to ensure their support and this October we want them to hear many other voices as well.

Save the 9-17 October in your diaries for European Shark Week 2010. Watch for more information on plans, ideas, materials and a call to action.

PLACING SUSTAINABLE ARTISANAL COASTAL FISHERIES AT THE HEART OF THE CFP REFORM

Artisanal coastal fishing activities, account for around 80% of the fleet (by vessel numbers), catch around 30% of the fish by value, and provide 65% of direct employment in European Union fisheries[1]. Artisanal coastal fishing fleets that fish in a non-intensive manner, using a range of seasonally diverse fishing methods on a range of species, have a relatively low impact on the ecosystem.

Such fisheries also generate considerable ancillary jobs; they provide the social, economic and cultural fabric that sustains many coastal communities, where they make an important contribution to food security and political, social and economic stability.

Artisanal coastal fishing, if treated fairly, managed responsibly, with well defined rights, has the potential to deliver healthy fisheries over the long-term and sustainable livelihoods.

Artisanal coastal fishing fleets are highly dependent on the grounds they exploit and operate in some of the most sensitive and biologically rich marine ecosystems. As a result they have developed a broad range of responsible management measures. If given support and provided with equal opportunities by the European Union, by national administrations and by an appropriate legal framework, building on such measures could assure sustainable fisheries as well as the conservation of valuable marine ecosystems across Europe.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as promoters of marine resources conservation, social justice and economic equity, have an important role to play in raising public awareness about the future of fish stocks and sustainable development. They seek to democratise the policy-making and decision-making processes, make institutional processes more transparent and decision-makers more accountable.

Artisanal coastal fishing interests and NGOs both tend to be under-represented in decision-making fora, where they are given less participation rights, support and consideration than other interests.

Our organisations of artisanal coastal fishers and NGOs share a common interest in placing European fisheries on a sustainable footing by supporting the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in ways which ensure the recovery of fish stocks and marine habitats where necessary, the promotion of sustainable fisheries, a just allocation of fishing access based on social and environmental criteria, and an equitable distribution of the benefits derived from these activities.

We therefore have agreed to work together on the CFP reform to achieve these objectives, and we call on the EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, the EU Fisheries Ministers and the Members of the European Parliament to ensure that:

• A functional marine environment and a steady return to healthy fish stocks are achieved as a precondition for sustainable fisheries. To this end the potential of sustainable artisanal coastal fisheries for stopping overfishing, ending destructive fishing practices, and delivering fair and equitable use of healthy fish stocks is fully recognised and placed at the heart of the CFP reform.
• The CFP reform process is just, transparent and democratic by ensuring the widest participation of men and women from artisanal coastal fisheries and NGOs at all stages.
• Priority access to fish resources is provided to those who fish in the most environmentally and socially sustainable way. Long term management plans are established which apply the appropriate measures through genuine bottom-up participative co-management processes that give due weight to sustainable development.
• Fishing policies, quotas and other management systems, and fishing methods do not cause discards of biologically, nutritionally or economically important fish and other aquatic species.
• Clear conditions and protocols are established and applied to avoid conflicts between different fleets targeting shared stocks or common fishing grounds.
• Decision-making promotes good fishing practices, valorises local fisheries’ ecological and oceanographic knowledge, and promotes collaboration between fishers and scientists.
• Appropriate aid is provided through the European Fisheries Fund and other support measures for training schemes as well as for the development of effective co-management that promotes the participation of fishers, both men and women, in decision-making processes, thereby assuring their engagement in these processes.

Signatures as of April 27^th

Accionatura

Action for Fisher People’s Livelihoods

Africa Contact

African artisanal fishing organisations confederation (CAOPA)

Ailerons

APECE

Asociacion de Armadores de Artes Menores de Catalunya (ADAMEC)

Asociación de Armadores de Artes Menores de Galicia (ASOAR-ARMEGA)Birdlife International

Black Sea NGO Network

BLOOM Association

CERAD International

Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB)

Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements (CFFA)

Cofradia de Pescadores de Cedeira

Cofradía de Pescadores de Gandia

Cofradia de Pescadores de Lira

Cofradia de Pescadores de Muros

Collectif Bar Européen

CRAM Foundation

Deepwave

Ecologistas en Acción

Eko-Unia

Ent, environment and management

Federacion Galega de Redeiras Artesas

Federacion Provincial de Cofradias de Pescadores de Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Fédération Francaise d’Etudes et de Sports Sous Marins – (FFESSM)

Federation of Galician Fishermen

Finnish Association for Nature Conservation

Fundación Lonxanet para la Pesca Sostenible

GEOTA

Greenpeace

GRIS – Gruppo Ricercatori Italini sugli Squali razze e chimere

Grupo de Estudos de Ordenamento do Territorio e Ambiente

Instituto Internacional de Derecho y Medio Ambiente (IIDMA)

Integrated Fisheries Foundation

International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)

Irish Seal Sanctuary

Irish Wildlife Trust

Irukandji Aquatik Films

Kenna EcoDiving

Legambiente Onlus

Lithuanian Fund for Nature

LPN – Liga para a Proteccao da Natureza

Marevivo

Mediterrània Centre d’Iniciatives Ecològiques

MedSharks

National Artisanal Fishermen Federation of Mauritania (FNP Artisanal)

National Association of Small Boat Owners of Iceland

NEREO

New Economics Foundation

New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association

North Sea Foundation

OCEAN2012

Oceana

Our Earth Foundation

People Uniting and Generating Aid for Development (PUGAD)

Pew Environment Group

Pro Wildlife e.V.

Probitec

Prud’homie de Pêche de Saint Raphael / Comité des Pêches du Var

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

SCIAENA – Marine Sciences and Cooperation

Seas At Risk

Shark Foundation

Sharklab

Sharklife Conservation Group

Sharkman’s World Organization

Swedish Professional Fishermen’s Association

Swedish Society for Nature Conservation

Tethys Research Institute

The Danish Society for a Living Sea

The Fisheries Secretariat

WWF European Policy Office

 

---

[1] No EU wide definition of coastal artisanal fishing exists. These figures are indicative, not absolute. They were provided by DG Mare as a portrait of small-scale coastal fisheries at the Seminar on Small Scale Coastal Fisheries on February 25 2010 in Brussels. 77% of the EU fleet are under 12 metres non-trawlers; estimates based on the Annual Economic Report indicate that vessels under 12 metres provide 65% of employment and 30% of the catch by value, subject to the uncertainty of the economic data provided by Member States.