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

Posidonia pipefish by Gaynor Rosier of Kenna Eco Diving, L'Escala, Costa Brava, Spain

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.

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.

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

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

Every year I dive on the Costa Brava from April to November, usually twice a day, doing marine conservation research and teaching dive courses. Whenever I see any trash I collect it, and record it for Project Aware.

During a season I collect quite a large number of plastic water bottles (or parts of), so a recyclable bottle sounds like a good idea. But read on to see why the bottle is only part of a much bigger problem…..

Date: 01-Apr-10
Author: Nayelli Gonzalez

It has arrived. Ladies and gentlemen: the compostable water bottle has arrived. Earlier this month, Green Planet Bottle launched an organic, 100% plant-based bottle which is not only petroleum- and BPA-free, but it’s also carbon neutral. This is certainly a good business move: Green Planet is entering the $11 billion bottled water market that doesn’t seem to go away. But can bottled water really be “green,” or sustainable?

The company is targeting schools, corporate campuses, and hotels, and can be used to gain LEED certification. According to the press release that announced the launch, “Green Planet Bottling was formed to help its customers make positive and sustainable differences by making a product that is healthy for our bodies and our planet. Its vision is to become the premier bottler of waters/beverages in organic, sustainable packaging.”

This upsets me. According to a study conducted by the Pacific Institute, bottled water raises serious concerns about the energy and water resources required to produce bottles and deliver them to consumers. The process of bottling water produces more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, and it takes 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water. Transporting bottled water also requires millions in barrels of oil. And the list goes on…

Most people who know about environmental issues know that bottled water is unsustainable on many levels. Changing the way the bottle is made is not a sustainable answer to bottled water. A compostable bottled water is still bottled water. Even so, the Green Planet website claims it is a “category changer.” As a brand, they are reframing the controversy of bottled water and are positioning themselves as a sustainable alternative to old school bottled water. Their strategy, in my opinion, is the strategic version of greenwashing. The company is opportunistically capitalizing on people’s desire to be environmentally responsible (and buy compostable vs. plastic products), and is misleading the public about the true environmental sustainability of its product.

Other than promoting the bottle’s material, nowhere on the Green Planet Bottling website can one find information about the sustainability of the company. Is the production process sustainable? Do they use alternative sources of energy to manufacture the compostable bottle and then bottle the water? Do they use hybrid or electric vehicles to transport the bottles (or are they still using gas-guzzling trucks)? And what are they doing to teach consumers about water conservation and the larger global water crisis? Those answers are not available online-and that’s probably another strategic move.

Reprinted with permission from EcoLocalizer.com

Parties overturn Committee decision to list porbeagle sharks under CITES Appendices and confirm rejection of similar action for hammerhead, oceanic whitetip, and spiny dogfish sharks

Doha, Qatar – 25 March, 2010: Today, in their final Plenary session, Parties to the Convention for the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted narrowly to reverse a previous Committee decision to monitor and regulate trade in the porbeagle shark and confirmed Committee rejection of similar proposals for the hammerhead, spiny dogfish, and oceanic whitetip shark.
 
“Today’s backsliding on porbeagle protection by the CITES Parties is deeply regrettable as are their previous decisions to reject trade safeguards for similarly threatened hammerheads, spiny dogfish and oceanic whitetip sharks,” said Heike Zidowitz, President of Europe’s leading association of shark scientists and the head of the Shark Alliance delegation to the CITES Conference. “These failures leave some of the oceans’ most vulnerable and heavily traded species at great risk from unregulated, international trade.”
 
The proposals to list porbeagle and spiny dogfish under CITES Appendix II were developed by the European Union while the United States proposed similar action for hammerheads and oceanic whitetip sharks.  The Pacific island nation of Palau co-sponsored all four proposals.  A two-thirds majority of votes is required for the adoption of such CITES proposals.
 
“Despite the setbacks, the CITES Conference debates have served to highlight the urgent plight of sharks and increase recognition of the role that CITES can play in their conservation,” added Zidowitz. “The member groups of the Shark Alliance will continue to promote CITES action along with science-based fishing limits as key elements of comprehensive shark conservation programs.”
 
The high demand for shark fins is a major threat to hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks while porbeagles and spiny dogfish are sought primarily to satisfy European demand for their meat.  
 
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), all the shark species proposed for CITES listing are classified as Globally Threatened under the IUCN Red List and meet the criteria for listing under CITES Appendix II.
 
Appendix II listings result in requirements for export permits and determinations that trade in a species is legal and not detrimental to the species’ survival.

Marco Carè/Marine Photobank

“For the second time in three days, governments have put short-term political and economic interests ahead of sound science—first with bluefin tuna and now with red and pink coral,” said Kristian Teleki, SeaWeb’s vice president of science initiatives, who is attending the meeting. “Coralliidae are in desperate need of a mechanism that controls the immense trade in these species. CITES could have provided that, but today the representatives failed to heed the science showing these populations are in steep decline. It is now up to the jewelry and design industries, and their customers, to act where governments have failed.”

The call to list bluefin tuna under Appendix I was also rejected, although the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies the species as critically endangered, and despite overwhelming scientific evidence that current levels of fishing of Northern Atlantic bluefin are unsustainable. At the 2009 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) meeting, the catch limit was reduced from 32,000 to 13,500 metric tons, short of the ICCAT scientists’ recommendation to reduce the catch to 8,000 metric tons or less to allow the population to recover.

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.