THREATENED Species

Plaza de España - Leganitos, 47 28013 Madrid (Spain) Tel.: + 34 911 440 880 Fax: + 34 911 440 890 [email protected] www.oceana.org Rue Montoyer, 39 1000 Brussels (Belgium) Tel.: + 32 (0) 2 513 22 42 Fax: + 32 (0) 2 513 22 46 [email protected] 1350 Connecticut Ave., NW, 5th Floor Washington D.C., 20036 USA Tel.: + 1 (202) 833 3900 Fax: + 1 (202) 833 2070 THREATENED SPECIES [email protected] Proposal for their protection in Europe and Spain · 175 South Franklin Street - Suite 418 S Proposal for their protection in Europe and Spain Juneau, Alaska 99801 (USA) Tel.: + 1 (907) 586 40 50 Fax: + 1(907) 586 49 44 [email protected] Avenida General Bustamante, 24, Departamento 2C 750-0776 Providencia, Santiago (Chile) Tel.: + 56 2 795 7140 Fax: + 56 2 795 7146 SPECIE THREATENED [email protected] THREATENED SPECIES Proposal for their protection in Europe and Spain >< CONTENTS Common sea urchin (Echinus esculentus), documented in the Atlantic Islands National Park in Galicia, Spain. © OCEANA/ Carlos Suárez >< 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................................005 Europe Spain 2. CONSERVATION AGREEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................013 Status of current legislation - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) - Barcelona Convention - Bern Convention - Bonn Convention or Convention on Migratory Species - Convention for Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) - International Union for Conservation of Nature, Red List (UICN) - United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) The missing pieces of the puzzle 3. THREATENED SPECIES ......................................................................................................................................................025 Analysis of the current situation and threats Reorganising the Habitats Directive Annexes 4. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................................................................045 5. ANNEX. List of species to be included in the conservation agreements ............................................................................051 6. REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................................................119 THREATENED SPECIES >< 1 ). © OCEANA/ Juan Cuetos Savalia savaglia False black coral ( False >< INTRODUCTION THREATENED SPECIES >< Protecting marine species worldwide is difficult Conservation of Nature) Red List has only evalu- and requires specific actions to be developed ated some 2,100 marine species4 (not including or adapted. Countries are authorised to pro- birds). Furthermore, significantly fewer marine tect only an extremely small proportion of the species than land species appear in conser- habitats in which these species live. As such, vation conventions or protocols. This gap can the development of isolated policies or policies be attributed to many factors, including the fact based on geographic limitations makes meas- that the oceans have always been considered ures less effective. In addition, agreements or an inexhaustible space for exploitation, not con- legislation on management of the marine envi- servation. ronment have listed marine species or habitats without adequately considering their situation This panorama places us in prehistoric times as and ignoring aspects that are important for their far as knowledge of the oceans is concerned. protection. Many of these obstacles are the re- Moreover, although the earth is covered by sult of a lack of knowledge in marine biology, so three times more water than land –considering it is essential to develop studies that shed light only surface area and not depth or volume– the on the oceans, its habitats, species and interac- oceans remain a mystery, limiting the possibili- Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in the Mediterranean Sea. tions. ties for protection. As a consequence of this lack © OCEANA/ Keith Ellenbogen of information, many marine species are now at In fact, only 5% of the world’s seabeds have risk and may even become extinct without ever been explored. Various studies estimate that having been identified or included in a census. between 10 and 40 million species live in the This is also the reason why the lists of fauna and oceans1,2, although efforts have only been con- flora that appear in protection agreements do centrated on the commercially important ones. not include all the species that are currently at Hence, research on all marine habitats and spe- risk. However, and despite the fact that many cies should be promoted and fostered. In this of these species have already been identified regard, the last Census of Marine Life (CoML) along with the importance of their ecological includes approximately 320,000 species3 identi- functions, there continues to be a significant fied to date. The IUCN (International Union for lack of endangered marine species included in >< red lists. Their protection has been historically Table 1. IUCN Red List world classification of marine reduced to species that are highly visible or species (not including birds). merely attractive to humans, without taking into Marine account their ecological importance or their role IUCN Category Abbreviation species in the food chain. Extinct EX 10 The IUCN Red List is considered a reference Extinct in the wild EW 0 document for the conservation state of both land Critically endangered CR 68 and marine species, but also reflects the lack Endangered EN 99 of studies concerning the marine environment. Threat categories are based on the evaluation Vulnerable VU 381 of the species included in the lists (Table 1). Low risk LR/cd 6 The DD category (data deficient) accounts for almost one-third of the total. Near threatened NT 336 Data deficient DD 647 Least concern LC 611 The goldblotch grouper (Epinephelus costae) is catalogued as DD. Management must be based on the application of the precautionary principle, especially for commercial species. Cabrera, Balearic Islands. According to the 2008 IUCN report5, almost Spain. © OCEANA/ Carlos Suárez 45,000 species of flora and fauna around the world fall under one of the organization’s categories. The lack of data reduces the number of marine species to 5.6% of the total and this is clearly insufficient to reflect and represent the biodiversity of this biomass, both in relative terms, in comparison to land species, and in ab- solute terms. THREATENED SPECIES >< EUROPE The importance of the fishing sector and his- insufficient. The lists of marine species included toric dumps must be taken into account when in the Habitats Directive, as well as other con- analysing the situation of marine species in ventions that are legally binding for the Europe- Europe, because these are the main causes of an Union, also lack sufficient measures to halt ocean degradation. Regarding dumps, control biodiversity loss in the marine environment. measures and legislation have reduced chron- ic spillage to some degree, at least as far as The first species and habitats7 evaluation carried contamination from land-based sources is con- out under the Habitats Directive and published cerned; however, the overexploitation of fishing in June 2009 indicates a significant problem in resources continues to constitute an important marine species protection: 57% of the marine factor in the disappearance of marine species species assessed in this report were classified and habitat degradation due to destructive fish- as “unknown”, between 75% and 80% of spe- ing gear. The semi-enclosed seas, including the cies in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Macro- Baltic and Mediterranean, suffer the most seri- nesian are also catalogued as “unknown” and ous consequences from this situation. 100% of those evaluated in the Baltic are “unfavourable bad” (Figure 1). Colonial coral (Polycyathus muellerae) in the Columbretes Islands, The European territory is located between paral- Spain. © OCEANA/ Juan Cuetos lels 27º and 70º and includes a wide variety of habitats harbouring high levels of biodiversity, including migratory marine species such as the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) or the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), which complete a part of their life cycles in European waters. Ma- rine environment protection measures in Europe do not take these facts into account because, although a Marine Strategy Framework Directive exists for this environment6, the efforts made by Member States for research and protection are >< Figure 1. Assessment of marine species in the Habitats Directive (2001-2006). █ Unknown MARINE SPECIES MATL: Marine Atlantic █ Unfavourable-bad MMAC: Marine Macaronesian █ Unfavourable-inadequate MMED: Marine Mediterranean █ Favourable MBAL: Marine Baltic THREATENED SPECIES >10< SPAIN The status of marine conservation in Spain Table 2. Marine species in the Spanish Catalogue of could improve significantly with the application Threatened Species. of the Framework Directive on the marine environment, which ensures the development of this Classification Marine species Directive by transposing it to national legislation. Although updating the lists of protected marine Endangered 9 species

Load more