Menorca trawling alarm: 51,000 hours across six sites

The protected Canal de Menorca is among six Spanish marine areas where vessel signals suggest more than 51,000 hours of trawling in 2025. That is fishing with nets dragged along the seabed. Oceana presented the findings in Madrid on Thursday, 22 October, after analysing signals from 205 vessels.

Vulnerable seabed in the tally

Across the six areas, 3,456 of those hours were recorded over habitats specifically mapped as vulnerable. The sites contain seagrass meadows, reefs, underwater canyons and cold-water corals. Oceana says these habitats are sensitive to the physical disturbance caused by trawling.

All six areas belong to the European Union’s Natura 2000 conservation network. Spain designated them as protected in 2014, but their management plans remain unfinished beyond the legal deadline.

Plans still await approval

Oceana wants the Spanish government to approve at least four of the pending plans before the general election on 29 November. It also says the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and fishing authorities did not provide official vessel-tracking data for its analysis, making independent scrutiny harder.

The plans form part of the Intemares marine conservation project. It was due to end in 2024, but two extensions have pushed its deadline to 2027. Oceana scientist Helena Álvarez says Spain would have to return the project’s 14 million euros if the required plans are not completed by then.

Topics: Sea & coast · Environment

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com