An investigation published on Thursday 21 May by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) reveals the continuing scale of illegal drift-net fishing in the Mediterranean, despite its having been banned for more than 20 years.
Entitled Walls of Death, the documentary shows for the first time footage of boats deploying kilometres of almost invisible nets in the Alboran Sea, between Europe and Africa. These devices, which can extend for dozens of kilometres, form veritable “walls of death” in the water column. Dolphins, turtles, sharks and other marine species become trapped in them and die of asphyxiation, according to the NGO (see EUROPE 12657/6).
Eight vessels were filmed using these prohibited devices. Moreover, research carried out on land in five Moroccan ports identified at least 843 vessels linked to this practice.
The Alboran Sea, a key biodiversity area linking the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, is under increasing ecological pressure. Abandoned nets continue to kill long after they have been set, becoming ‘ghost nets’.
According to the EJF, a large proportion of Moroccan swordfish is exported to European Union and sold as legal catch.
Link to documentary: https://aeur.eu/f/lzx (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)