News & Updates

3
Feb
2022

The EU and its Member States must fulfil their commitment to stop public money from supporting wasteful economic activities that degrade our environment. We urge EU leaders to stop subsidizing fossil fuels.

Despite the adoption of the Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris Agreement, EU governments continue to provide billions of fossil fuels subsidies that degrade our environment and contribute to the climate crisis. The fact that there is no single commonly accepted definition of fossil fuel subsidies further creates lack of accountability and transparency in reporting.

Lower taxes or full tax exemptions are allowed for commercial fuel in the aviation, transport, fisheries, energy generation and maritime sectors, and for the production and extraction of coal, gas and oil.

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2
Feb
2022

Local fishers experience can contribute to a better knowledge of marine resources

Overall, our study evidences that fisher’s perception represents an important source of complementary information to describe bottom trawling fisheries characteristics and the long-term changes of demersal target species in the Western Mediterranean Sea.Our results document important changes in the bottom trawling activity in the study area and in the abundance of commercial species with time according to fishers’ perceptions. Our results mostly match quantitative information from national statistics and stock assessment analyses. 

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10
Jan
2022

Stranding of three striped dolphins in the NE Aegean

Three dead striped dolphins, two adult females and a juvenile male, were found off the southeast coast of Samos island. It is estimated that the strong winds carried them there from another part of the Aegean, after they had been drifting for at least three days. The Stranding Response team of the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation arrived on site to investigate the causes of their death.

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15
Dec
2021

Spain falls short in protecting Mediterranean marine ecosystems

15th December  – Yesterday, Spain introduced new temporary and permanent fishing closures within the framework of the Multiannual Management Plan for Demersal Fisheries in the Mediterranean, to contribute to the recovery of the main demersal fish stocks.However, according to Fundación ENT and MedReAct, the new closures are insufficient and must be urgently strengthened. Spain must instead promote the establishment of larger areas permanently closed to fishing and located in sites with greater ecological value.

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4
Dec
2021

France, Spain and Italy must stop playing Russian roulette with their Mediterranean fisheries, and instead abide by EU law they committed to

 “In 2019, Spain, France and Italy committed to deliver sustainable fisheries in the Western Mediterranean by 2025, delaying by five years the sustainability obligation set by the CFP for 2020. Today, scientists are raising the alarm: none of the 2022 management scenarios evaluated will end overfishing by 2025 unless those same countries adopt drastic reductions in fishing effort. To prevent France, Italy and Spain from continuing to jeopardize the future of Mediterranean fisheries and the thousands of EU citizens that rely on it for their livelihoods, we call on the European Commission to act with emergency measures, before it’s too late”.

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4
Aug
2021

Why is the Mediterranean Sea so clear?

The Mediterranean boasts crystal-clear waters almost all year round. It’s one of the best places to both teach and learn how to scuba dive. Instructors can see into the eyes of their students, even from afar, and know what they are thinking thanks to the astonishing clarity of the water. But why is the med clearer than most other regions of the world?

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14
May
2021

Ecologistas en Acción ask MAPA General Directorate of Fisheries to investigate the appearance of dead tunas

Es muy llamativo el elevado número de cadáveres similares en un mismo espacio playero. Los atunes no presentaban signos de ataque de orcas o de traumatismos. En días sucesivos han aparecido más cadáveres entre El Palmar y Zahara de los Atunes. Los atunes se retiraron de las playas con inusitada rapidez.

En las actuales almadrabas, en muchas ocasiones, ya no realizan la “levantá” o la saca de los atunes que han caído en las redes desde un círculo de barcos atuneros. Ahora desde la red de la almadraba son conducidos a través de otra red en forma de tubo hasta una jaula de engorde donde pueden permanecer meses hasta que engordan y ser vendidos oportunamente.

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21
Apr
2021

Limiting the environmental footprint caused to our seas by our daily habits: Collaboration between the Archipelagos Institute and KORRES

When we talk about protecting the environment and combating pollution, our mind usually goes to causes and causers that are difficult for us as citizens to influence, such as industrial pollution. Frequently do not think about the large environmental footprint caused by our daily consumption habits, i.e. the personal hygiene products, cosmetics and cleaning products that we use and end up in the marine environment, polluting it with the harmful or toxic chemicals they may contain.

In the difficult battle that Archipelagos Institute is giving for the protection of our seas, it is very important to have the citizens on our side, as each of us can make a difference if we change our daily consumption habits. Especially those related to the heavy footprint that we cause daily to the natural environment, often unintentionally.

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