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

Anchovy and sardine fishing is being regulated in Mediterranean with new catch limits and a ban on fishing over threatened Posidonia seagrass beds under the Management Plan for the Conservation of the seafood resources of the Mediterranean Sea.
In an effort to help boost recovery of the seafood resources and to guarantee sustainable activity, the ministerial order prohibits capture “with trawler nets, dredgers and purse seiner nets on the beds of Posidonia Oceanica and in coralligenous and maërl beds.”
According to the new regulations, Spanish vessels in the ports of the Balearics and Andalusia will have to limit captures of European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) to 7,000 kg weekly, and those of European pilchard (Sardine pilchardus), to 5,000 kg daily.
In the rest of the ports of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, 15,000 kg of anchovy per week and 5,000 kg of sardine per day will be allowed.
Vessels with purse seiner gear will only be able to execute one landing per day, except on the Andalusian coast and the Balearics, where they are permitted a maximum of two daily landings.
Purse seiner fishing vessels in the fishing-ground of the Mediterranean will be banned from fishing between 1 October and 31 March of every year within certain coordinates and the 45-metre isobaths.
Order 143/2010 also specifies a fishing prohibition of surface longliners from 1 October to 30 November of every year, and with bottom trawlers to depths over 1,000 metres in all the outer waters of the Mediterranean coast.

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