Deep Sea Event in Barcelona “Deep Sea Fishing: Impacts and Solutions”

On June 2nd 2015, the Maritime Museum of Barcelona hosted an event organized by the DSCC in collaboration with the Museum and Animal Latitude association. Three internationally-recognized deep-sea scientists presented the findings of their work in support of better deep sea protection.

Àlex Bartolí, for the DSCC, set out the context with the reform of the EU deep-sea fishing regulation, currently stalled in EU Fisheries Council working group, and highlighted the main priorities for a successful reform.

Pere Puig, a geologist from the Marine Science Institute of Barcelona (ICM) explained the impact of bottom trawling on the sea floor and highlighted the important geomorphological changes to the normal sediment caused by such gear.

Francesc Sardà, also from ICM, spoke about the ecology of the deep sea, in particular its fragility, and the importance of vulnerable marine ecosystems for the overall conservation of fish populations and the deep-sea environment.

Finally, Pablo Durán, from the Spanish Oceanographic Institute, explained the different techniques used by his Institute to carry-out impact assessments of deep sea fisheries, and their extensive work mapping, identifying and protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems in the Atlantic Ocean.

Raül Romeva, former Green/EFA member of the European Parliament, and shadow rapporteur for the deep-sea file in the Parliament’s Fisheries Committee facilitated the event which concluded with a productive round table discussion, moderated by Professor Manel Gazo of the University of Barcelona.

Aiming to contribute to the ongoing negotiations within the Fisheries Council, the DSCC will produce a document reflecting the main conclusions to be sent to officials from the Spanish Fisheries Ministry, who could unfortunately not attend.