Spaces available for volunteer Eco Divers to enjoy no cost diving in the Med this summer

Volunteer Eco Divers receive  full training in research methods and key species identification, including a free Medes Islands Marine Reserve dive, in order to help with coastal marine life surveys.

Bookings being taken NOW for scuba divers who are keen to join our marine conservation research activities.

See website for reasons to join us.

Press release – May 8, 2012
Brussels – A broad coalition of civil society groups praised the European Parliament environment committee for its strong stand today on EU fisheries reform. In a vote on the reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the members of the parliament overwhelmingly supported measures to recover fish stocks, promote environmental protection of the marine environment and reduce fishing pressure while supporting sustainable fishing.

Birdlife Europe, Greenpeace, OCEAN2012, Oceana and WWF welcome:

• commitment to restore fish populations above sustainable levels (known as the maximum sustainable yield) by 2015 and to improve the environmental standards of fishing to achieve healthy seas by 2020;

• support for preferential access to fishing for the most sustainable operations, ensuring that quotas not to exceed scientific advice;

• rejection of the proposed mandatory transferable fishing concessions (TFCs);

• support for a requirement for EU Member States to assess their fishing capacity and adjust it to sustainable fishing limits;

• support for the principle of granting EU subsidies only if recipients comply with EU fishing rules;

• support a regionalised implementation of fisheries management through multiannual plans; and

• a strengthened social and environmental dimension in the EU’s international fishing activities.

EU fisheries ministers are expected to agree on a general approach to fisheries reform in early June, while the Parliament’s fisheries committee (the lead committee) is due to vote in early July. The civil society groups ask all MEPs outside the environment committee to show the same ambition in the plenary vote in early September.

The current CFP has failed to rebuild fish stocks, reduce excessive fleet capacity and halt overfishing. According to the European Commission, the European fleet can currently catch two to three times more than what the ocean can provide sustainably, while 63% of assessed stocks in the Atlantic and 82% in the Mediterranean are overfished.

Contacts:
Saskia Richartz – Greenpeace EU fisheries policy director: +32 (0)495 290028, saskia.richartz@greenpeace.org
Greenpeace EU press desk: +32 (0)2 274 1911, pressdesk.eu@greenpeace.org

Protect Posidonia! Sign our Petition

In Cala Montgó, near L’Escala, on the Costa Brava, where we have been Eco Diving and carrying out research with volunteer divers for the past 12 years, we have witnessed an estimated 25% loss of Posidonia beds, mainly as a result of unregulated anchoring by pleasure boats each summer.

Where there were once lush meadows of Posidonia teaming with marine life, we now see barren sediment, often littered with trash from tourist boats.

The Posidonia pipefish, Syngnathus typhle, has evolved to perfectly resemble a blade of Posidonia seagrass. It is so well camouflaged that it is virtually impossible to see unless it happens to swim above or outside the seagrass beds, which is a rare occurrence. It is a poor swimmer and rarely ventures out of the safety of the Posidonia meadows, spending it’s time head down within the Posidonia shoots searching for tiny shrimps to eat. It is totally dependent on this habitat for daily food and shelter, and as a seasonal breeding ground and nursery.

Without the presence of Posidonia oceanica we would not have the biodiversity that attracts hundreds of divers and snorkelers to L’Escala each year. Cala Montgó was included within the “protected zone” of the Medes Islands and Montgri coast two years ago but still no regulations have been agreed to provide practical protection for this important threatened species.

Protect Posidonia! Sign our Petition.

You can also Design a Poster to Protect Posidonia and/or attend our Free Posidonia oceanica seagrass workshop

Closing the loopholes in the EU finning ban

Yesterday, the Council of Fisheries Ministers adopted a position in favour of the Commission’s proposal to remove Article 4 from the current finning regulation and hence require all sharks to be landed with ‘fins naturally attached’. Only Spain and Portugal opposed this move and on their own, they do not have enough votes to block it.

This is of course excellent news, and a reflection of all your hard work nationally, but it is not the end of the story. The European Parliament also need to agree to the Commission’s proposal and we need to ensure Council do not later accept any proposed ‘compromise’. Debates in the Parliament Fisheries Committee are ongoing but the rapporteur, Portuguese MEP Maria do Céu Patrão Neves, is so far not accepting the arguments of the Commission, conservationists, and the growing number of countries supporting fins-attached policies.

The Shark Trust in the UK presented a book showing photos from ESW and petition signatures to UK fisheries minister Richard Benyon. More information here. Benyon commented “The petition I have received demonstrates the strength of feeling on the wasteful and potentially barbaric practice of shark finning, cutting off a shark’s fin and throwing the rest of the carcass into the sea. The UK will continue to lead the way on shark conservation internationally, pushing for improvements wherever they’re needed.”

Check out the new video highlighting why conservation measures are needed for sharks.

Shark Alliance News 20.03.12

Problems with equalising can be a real pain – literally! But you can avoid the nasal and sinus congestion that makes equalising difficult by Boosting Your Immune System

Being able to properly equalise the pressure between your inner body spaces, like your sinuses and inner ear, and the ambient pressure as you decend is a vital technique in scuba diving. If you can’t equalise, you can’t dive. Simple as that. This can be very annoying if you have booked a fantastic dive trip and then develop a cold or allergy just before you go or during your holiday.

Or maybe you have really taken to scuba diving and have invested in all of your own expensive dive gear only to find that you get repeated ear infections every time you dive.

What is the solution? Well you can certainly start by strengthening your immune system so that your body is able to fight infections quickly and efficently, and deal with allergens without under or over reacting. By keeping your nasal and aural passages clear you will find that equalising becomes a doddle; and the more regularly that you dive and equalise, the easier it gets as your eardrums become more elastic.

There is a huge body of peer reviewed medical evidence for the effectiveness of Beta Glucan, a natural immune enhancer, in switching on and strengthening your body’s defence system against bacteria, viruses, allergens, and even cancer cells. On top of this it has been found to lower cholesterol levels and to regulate blood sugar levels.

A truely amazing discovery! This natural substance is now licenced in Japan as a cancer treatment as it has been found to be more effective than conventional treatments and does not have any side-effects.

Seagrass Fish & Critter Hunt 2012, with Gaynor Rosier

Want to learn all about marine life? Then there’s no better place to be than at Kenna Eco Dive Center on the Costa Brava in July 2012.

Gaynor Rosier, volunteer diver coordinator for the Eco Center’s voluntary conservation research work with the Silmar Project, will be running a free week-long workshop for Eco Center guests on seagrass fish and invertebrate identification, behaviour and photography.

This one’s not to be missed! You’ll enjoy plenty of diving, discovery and underwater fun, plus talks and presentations.

We guarantee that after spending an energising week of fun and learning with a group of like-minded divers, diving will never be the same!

More info.

Posidonia Protection Poster Competition

Design a poster to win a guided scuba dive or snorkel in the Costa Brava Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows.

Background

At Kenna Eco Diving we have been carrying out conservation research into the seagrass Posidonia oceanica for the past decade. Posidonia oceanica is a habitat unique to the Mediterranean Sea in which a myriad of species find food and shelter, in fact up to 700 different species have been counted within a square meter of seagrass. It is also an important breeding ground and nursery for many animals including the Posidonia pipefish and several commercial fish species.

This amazing species of seagrass provides other services such as protecting the coastline from erosion, clarifying the water by catching suspended particles, absorbing vast amounts of carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.

Like all seagrasses, Posidonia oceanica reproduces by cloning, so meadows spanning many kilometres are genetically identical and considered one organism. Recent research by Carlos Duarte sequencing the DNA of Posidonia oceanica at 40 different sites in the Mediterranean discovered one patch off the island of Formentera that was identical over 15 kilometres of coastline. Given the plant’s annual growth rate the team calculated that the Formentera meadow must be between 80,000 and 200,000 years old, making it the oldest living organism on Earth.

Posidonia oceanica is designated as a protected species and Posidonia beds are identified as a priority habitat for conservation under the European Union’s Habitats Directive (Dir 92/43/CEE). Catalunya banned otter-trawling over Posidonia beds many years ago. However, it still faces many avoidable threats to its survival, the most obvious destruction coming from unregulated pleasure boat anchoring.

In one bay on the Costa Brava, where we have been diving and carrying out research for the past 12 years, we have witnessed a loss of an estimated 25 per cent of the Posidonia beds, with an accompanying loss of biodiversity. Where there were once lush meadows of Posidonia teaming with marine life, we now see barren sediment, often littered with trash from tourist boats.

Gaynor Rosier, volunteer research coordinator, states “It is heart-breaking to witness hundreds of years’ worth of seagrass growth being destroyed in seconds by boat users dragging their anchors through the Posidonia oceanica meadows. As the Posidonia meadows are being destroyed the Posidonia pipefish, relative of the seahorse which is perfectly adapted to this habitat, is becoming harder to find. Now we are lucky to spot one or two per dive season whilst Eco Diving.”

The Posidonia pipefish is perfectly adapted to this ancient seagrass habitat

Posidonia oceanica is now also threatened by climate change. The Mediterranean is warming three times faster than the world average and each year Posidonia oceanica meadows decline by around 5 per cent.

You can assist our efforts to protect this important, vulnerable species by entering our free competition to design an awareness-raising poster aimed at pleasure boat users. (Competition closing date 1st June 2012).

How to enter

More information on Posidonia oceanica:

http://marinebiology.kennaecodiving.net

www.marine-life-costa-brava.org

The ‘million dollar manta’ is being killed worldwide for  health tonics that are not even proven to have any benefits  Download report

Manta rays are popular with divers and snorkelers, so  much so that a single animal can ‘earn’ more than US$ 1 million for local eco-tourism during its lifetime, according to a report just issued by the Manta Ray of Hope Project. Despite their popularity and tourism value, the report provides shocking evidence that these graceful and gentle giants are rapidly disappearing due to over fishing which is only now being recognised.

The Manta Ray of Hope Project, a joint effort of two conservation organizations, Shark Savers and WildAid, released a comprehensive report documenting worldwide manta and mobula declines due to the trade in their gills. The report, entitled “Manta Ray of Hope: The Global Threat to Manta and Mobula Rays” provides the most far-reaching research ever conducted into both the intensive overfishing of mantas and mobulas as well as the trade in their gill rakers that are driving mantas and mobulas to the point of population collapse.

The destruction of ray populations is the result of demand for their gill rakers, with an estimated market value of $11 million annually. That is a fraction of the value of manta and mobula ray tourism, which is estimated at over $100 million per year, globally.

Manta Ray of Hope team leader, Shawn Heinrichs, stated, “While the gills are valuable for this trade, it is also robbing local economies and the environment of one of the most charismatic creatures in the ocean that could draw millions of dollars each year for those communities.”

Lead investigator Paul Hilton added, “We first came across manta and mobula ray gills in Asian markets several years ago and followed the trail to the dried seafood markets of Southern China. It’s sad to see these animals follow the same path to extinction as sharks.”

Due to their extremely limited reproductive biology, Manta and mobula ray populations are severely impacted by any kind of targeted fishing. These rays take ten or more years to reach sexual maturity and typically produce only one pup every two to three years. In comparison, the Great White shark, listed under CITES Appendix II and widely considered to be one of the world’s most vulnerable species, may produce as many pups in one litter as a manta ray does over its entire lifetime.

As a result, every area with active fisheries directed against manta and mobula rays reports devastating and rapid declines in populations of these rays. In certain regions, such as the Sea of Cortez, the oceanic manta ray (M. birostris) has largely disappeared. The aggressive trade in gill rakers continues in several of the key range states for mobulids with the largest landings documented in Sri Lanka, India, and Indonesia.

“If action is not taken quickly, manta and mobula rays will likely face regional extinctions because of unregulated fisheries”, said Michael Skoletsky, Executive Director of Shark Savers. “Anyone who has gone diving with mantas knows them to be intelligent, graceful, and engaging animals. It would be a tragedy to lose them.”

Executive Director of WildAid, Peter Knights, adds that “Mantas can generate tens of millions of dollars of long term sustainable tourism revenue for less wealthy nations, or for a few million we can let them go extinct for an obscure and dubious folk cure. The economics and the moral imperative are clear – we need an immediate moratorium on gill raker trade and measures for complete protection to some populations and to reduce fishing pressure for others.”

The gills of manta and mobula rays are dried and boiled for preparation as a health tonic that is purported to treat a wide range of ailments.  Yet the report’s researchers did not find the gill raker remedy listed in the official Traditional Chinese Medicine manual. However, that has not prevented its use as a pseudo-medicinal tonic, driven by direct marketing to consumers by importers in Guangzhou, China, the primary destination for this trade.

The report, Manta Ray of Hope: The Global Threat to Manta and Mobula Rays highlights what is known about the remarkable biology and ecology of manta and mobula rays, explains the extreme threats they face, describes the fisheries and trade that target these rays, and offers some solutions via alternative, non-consumptive uses for communities to profit from them, sustainably.  The information provided in the report will enable decision-makers to move swiftly in enacting critical protections for manta and mobula rays.

Manta Ray of Hope received support from the Silvercrest Foundation, Hrothgar Investments Ltd, and private donors. Manta Ray of Hope: The Global Threat to Manta and Mobula Rays received additional guidance and data from many of the foremost manta researchers and scientists throughout the world.

About Shark Savers: Shark Savers was founded in 2007 by six  long-time divers driven by a shared passion – to save the world’s  dwindling shark and ray populations. Today, more than 20,000 members  from 99 nations share that passion. Focusing on action and results,  Shark Savers programs result in saving the lives of sharks and rays. By  leveraging professional experience and expertise, Shark Savers brings  this important issue to the masses in many compelling forms, motivating  people to stop consuming sharks and shark fin soup, and working for the  creation of shark sanctuaries and other protections. For more  information, please visit www.sharksavers.org

European seas and the communities that depend on them face catastrophe unless we act now to protect them. Tomorrow, EU ministers could agree to bold new fishing limits, but they will only do so if we make our voices heard now.

The European Commission has tabled a strong proposal, based on scientific findings, to protect dwindling fish populations. But some countries, under pressure from the powerful fishing lobby, want to gut the plans behind closed doors. If we stand up for science and the future of our fisheries we can make the decisive difference to the ministers’ thinking as they negotiate tomorrow.

Let’s flood EU ministers with messages demanding a strong plan to stop the decline in Europe’s fish populations. Click below to send a message now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_save_our_seas/?tta

Some 72% of the EU’s assessed fish stocks are dangerously overfished, and experts fear that within 40 years our oceans could becompletely fished out. Only a strong, science-based commitment to resuscitating fish stocks will prevent the total collapse of fishing communities in the coming years.

Our messages now could have a real impact. Six weeks ago, when the current proposal for 2012 fishing limits was being negotiated, Avaaz members in Ireland poured thousands of messages in a single day into a public consultation and helped swing Irish ministers behind a strong stance for this week’s meeting. Now it’s decision time. This meeting will be tense and long, so it’s vital to get our message across to ministers before they disappear behind closed doors.

Let’s finish the job by sending messages to Ministers across the EU demanding they put science, not short-term corporate interest, at the helm of our fishing policies — and come together to pass a strong plan to save our seas. Click below to send your urgent message:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_save_our_seas/?tta

For decades, we’ve treated our seas as indestructible — vacuuming up fish and dumping waste. But the world is starting to take notice. Avaaz members’ actions helped push the UK government to create the world’s largest marine protected area, and over a million of us persuaded the International Whaling Commission to uphold the global ban on commercial whaling. If we can now win in Europe, we’ll be one step closer to a world with vibrant and thriving oceans.

European Commission adopts European Maritime and Fisheries Fund  – Too little too late for fish stocks?

Today the Commission adopted Maria Damanaki’s proposal for a new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. The fund will be equipped with a financial envelop of 6,5 billion euro which will be used throughout the period 2014 to 2020.

The fund will support the implementation of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. It will focus on actions which increase economic growth and create jobs in the sector.

According to the EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, no more money will be spent to build bigger vessels. The fund is meant to help small-scale fisheries to become more profitable and more viable. It aims to reverse the decline of many coastal areas and island communities which are dependent on fishing. It should add more value to fishing related activities and promote the diversification of local communities to other sectors of the maritime economy, such as: preserving and processing the fish maritime tourism, cleaning of the sea,  and aquaculture.

The Commission is going to promote the development of sustainable aquaculture, both marine and inland. Helping existing enterprises, and promoting the entry of new comers, new investments, and new jobs into this activity.

Maria states in her newsletters “Last but not least, the new fund will contribute to greening the common fisheries policy. Overfishing is a major threat to ecosystems. The new fund will contribute to the sustainable management of fishing resources. It will help the fishing sector to become equipped with more selective gear, to eliminate discards, to invest in equipment that reduces the impact on the marine environment. In general to move towards sustainable fishing that does less damage to marine ecosystems.”

She will now present the proposal to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers for final adoption.

As a marine conservation volunteer and an active member of OCEAN2012, I am sad to see that the preservation of marine ecosystems is not given a high priority within the plans for the fisheries fund. Without thriving fish populations there will be not even be any small-scale fisheries left in the future.

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