BLOG:

FEBRUARY, 2019

Spanish government creates the second-largest marine national park in the Mediterranean

After more than a decade of campaign work by Oceana and six research expeditions made possible by numerous supporters, the Spanish government increased the size of Cabrera National Park from 100 to 900 square kilometers. This increase makes Cabrera  – one of the richest and most biodiverse places in the Mediterranean and Spanish Coast –  the second largest marine national park in the Mediterranean and the first one to formerly protect deep-sea corals. The park will also provide shelter to important species including marine mammals like sperm whales and dolphins and large fish like bluefin tuna and will be the Mediterranean’s deepest protected national park at over 2,000 meters.

DECEMBER, 2018

The Philippines ends bottom trawling in all municipal waters, protects ocean nurseries

In the Philippines, following Oceana’s campaign, the government removed a loophole and effectively ended bottom trawling in all its municipal waters (which are critical sources of seafood and sustenance for many Filipinos). In the late 1990s, the Philippines passed a law limiting industrial fishing in local waters but allowed smaller vessels – under three tons – to fish (with the intent of encouraging artisanal fishing in these water). This exception led to the creation of a new industrial fleet of “mini trawlers” that continued to operate near the coasts of the Philippines. The Government of the Philippines has now removed the loophole and mandated the decommissioning of all bottom trawl gear and reaffirmed the right of access – as intended in the original legislation – for artisanal fishers to municipal waters. Bottom trawlers destroy habitat, which includes ocean nurseries, by dragging heavily weighted nets across the ocean floor in pursuit of fish and leaving behind damage that can take centuries to recover from.

DECEMBER, 2018

Peru passes law to reduce use of plastics and protect its ocean

After campaigning by Oceana and our allies, a new law in Peru will help to reduce the use of plastics and plastic pollution. Peru’s Congress passed legislation, based on a proposal from the country’s Ministry of the Environment, banning the use of plastic bags and restricting other single-use plastics (including straws). The measures also include language that prohibits the use of plastics in Peru’s beaches, coast and the country’s many protected areas. This law will help Peru’s ocean and its economy as it will protect Peru’s abundant seas which are home to the world’s largest single-species fishery. Use of virgin plastic grows by 4% every year. This means that if even by some herculean efforts, recycling rates double by 2030, there would still be far more plastic entering the ocean than now. We cannot recycle ourselves out of this problem.

OCTOBER, 2018

California Phases Out Destructive Swordfish Drift Gillnet Fishing, Protecting Marine Mammals, Turtles and Sharks From Bycatch

Despite 30 years of management measures aimed at reducing bycatch, the California swordfish drift gillnet fishery had remained one of the nation’s dirtiest fisheries, killing more dolphins than all observed U.S. West Coast fisheries combined. Thanks to a years-long campaign by Oceana and our allies, a new law will clean up the fishery, phasing out the use of drift gillnets through a buyout transition program and incentivizing the use of cleaner fishing gear. These measures will eventually eliminate nets that have frequently entangled, injured and killed marine mammals like whales, dolphins and sea lions as well as endangered sea turtles, sharks and other important fish species.