Marine reserves in the Balearic Islands are under threat

The undersigned organisations wish to express their grave concern about the events that have unfolded following the recent proposal to expand the Freus d'Eivissa i Formentera Marine Reserve. This proposal envisages relaxing current regulations to allow increased recreational fishing and more catches in this protected area.

In the context of progress towards the European and national commitment to protect 30% of the marine area by 2030, 10% of which must be strictly protected, the signatory organisations consider any progress in this direction to be positive and strongly support it. It is extremely concerning that, to advance towards these objectives – whether through the expansion of existing marine protected areas (MPAs) or the creation of new ones – their level of protection is being blatantly reduced.

Since 1999, a significant amount of public money has been invested in the creation of a network of marine reserves of fishing interest in the Balearic archipelago. These fisheries management tools, like any other measure – whether the establishment of minimum sizes, mesh types, depths and restricted habitats, or the control of fishing effort – are based on scientific knowledge, both in terms of their location and the regulations to be developed within them. These requirements are clearly expressed in the Balearic Islands Fisheries Law.

We are seriously concerned that the proposed amendments to the Decree (which regulates the extraction of marine flora and fauna and underwater activities in the marine reserves of the inland waters of the Balearic Islands coastline) will bring the existing regulations in marine reserves in line with those in unprotected waters. We are also concerned that the possible amendment of this Decree will eliminate the recreational fishing ban zone in s'Espardell, leading to an increase in fishing effort by the recreational fleet within the marine reserves.

This increase in the fishing effort and catch quotas of the recreational fishing fleet jeopardises the conditions that have led us from situations of overexploitation of marine resources to very significant recoveries. These recoveries have made it possible, among other things, to halt the decline of the small-scale fishing fleet in areas where a marine reserve was located. This professional fishing fleet is in decline and is of utmost importance in supplying markets, food sovereignty, and quality zero-kilometre products, which are key to the so-called blue economy.

Furthermore, we must not forget that since the creation of the Balearic Islands marine reserve network, the number of recreational fishing licences has increased to 45,000. It is therefore clear that the establishment of marine reserves in the Balearic Islands has not been and is not detrimental to this activity.

The recent proposal presented by the PP and VOX and approved at the last plenary session of the Consell de Ibiza considers authorising fishing methods such as spearfishing within marine reserves. There is evidence that this method has a profoundly negative impact on coastal species, jeopardising the benefits provided by marine reserves in terms of increasing the number and size of species of interest to fisheries. This practice also harms the increase of species that are fishery resources. Recreational fishing is the sector that least declares and records its catches, and it is where the most penalties are recorded for lack of a licence, unauthorised catches, or illegal fishing.

This proposal, proposed without scientific or technical backing, departs from the regulatory consensus and scientific evidence that have contributed to the success of the Balearic Islands marine reserve network. It marks a break with the established policy for the Balearic Islands as a whole, threatening marine reserves throughout the archipelago.

Given the seriousness of the situation, the undersigned organisations propose:

1) Establishing a moratorium on the changes that the government, at the request of the Consell de Ibiza and the recreational fishing associations of Ibiza and Formentera, intends to make to the regulations on recreational fishing in the marine reserves of Ibiza and Formentera.

2) Initiating a participatory process using existing governance bodies in the Pitiüses, taking into account all sectoral agents and with the presence of scientists and public bodies that have been directly involved in the study of the Balearic Islands network of marine reserves (CEAB-CSIC, IMEDEA-CSIC, IEO-CSIC, IRFAP-Tragsatec) to provide independent, accurate information, based on the best available scientific evidence, on the suitability of all regulatory changes that may affect the conservation status of marine resources in the Balearic Islands MPA network.

 

Signatory entities (in alphabetical order):

1. Arrels Marines
2. Ecologistas en Acción
3. Fundació Iniciatives del Mediterrani
4. Marilles Foundation
5. Cleanwave Foundation
6. Ibiza Preservation
7. Save the Med Foundation
8. GEN-GOB
9. GOB Mallorca
10. GOB Menorca
11. Greenpeace
12. Plataforma Port Ramassat