Tag Archives: Marine ecology

Lack of control in the dredging of the Port of Ciutadella

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Ports de the Balearic Islands has carried out dredging in the inner area of the port without measures to prevent the dispersion of silt in the water. GOB wants to know which environmental precautions have been taken to ensure that no further contamination occurs and where the extracted sediments will end up.

Port sediments are likely to be contaminated. These are areas of intensive use, where paints, fuel oils, and various discharges often end up being deposited on the seabed.

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The Port of Maó’s zoning, key to organising its uses

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The Balearic Ports Authority is promoting a new regulation to govern coexistence within the port service area of the Port of Maó. Among the activities it seeks to restrict are swimming in non-marked areas, placing chairs, camping with motorhomes, or eating and drinking inside a vehicle, a practice interpreted by the text as camping. The GOB has submitted a letter requesting a reconsideration of the current zoning.

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Gratitude and recognition for Cala en Busquets

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The organisations promoting the Platform in Defence of Cala en Busquets wish to express our gratitude for the support received in recent weeks, both from individuals and from other organisations that have encouraged us to raise our voices publicly against the dry marina project.

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Manifesto for the defence of Cala en Busquets

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Several civic organisations have analysed the dry marina project promoted by Ports de les Illes Balears at Cala en Busquets and have agreed to work together to try to stop the initiative.

The planned intervention in this cove of Ciutadella’s port aims to install a dry marina with capacity for 120 boats, as well as to build a large concrete esplanade and a vertical wall. This would have a major landscape impact and would further increase the nautical pressure on the port.

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Addaia marina: the expiry that never comes

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In the Addaia area, bordering the Natural Park and the Natura 2000 zones, an expansion of the existing marina was planned long ago. The project practically foresaw doubling the installations area (see attached image).

The environmental impact assessment received a favourable report in 2015, ten years ago. The GOB has been submitting allegations and appeals at every stage of the process during this period.

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The regenerative aquaculture as a marine resilience strategy

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The general interest of the population towards the sea is growing considerably year after year. Therefore, the activities carried out there have multiplied. Thus, the anthropic pressure and threats affecting the habitats of the seabed have also increased, with a significant impact on the coastline.

Specifically, in the port of Maó, the phenomenon of commercial boating has skyrocketed, with constant expansions of facilities that end up being occupied at speculative prices. It is a growing market, but one that corresponds to a seasonal operation, which ends up displacing local boats of a more social kind, transforms spaces with natural values within the port, and which, for years now, has exceeded the island’s nautical carrying capacity.

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October 11 – II Regenerative Aquaculture Seminar

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Climate change and the need to preserve the coastline compel us to find resilient and sustainable alternatives. The Regenerative Aquaculture Seminar returns in 2025 to continue raising these questions and how to address them in a place such as Menorca.

What is regenerative aquaculture? Are there precedents of this activity in Menorca? Is it possible to make marine activity compatible with a sustainable model? The second edition of the Aquaculture Seminar will address these and other questions, with the participation of experts and professionals in the sector to share knowledge, experiences, and proposals that may help define the future of coastal management that is more respectful of marine ecosystems and society.

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Nautical activity and marine fauna

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On August 16, near the beach of Binibèquer, an adult sea turtle appeared dead with a large cut on its shell. Some people towed the body to shore.

The protocol was activated by calling 112 and the animal was collected for an autopsy. The turtle’s body clearly showed a prominent fracture in the posterior part of the shell, an injury very likely caused by a collision with a boat propeller. At sea, there are few things that can cause a break of this size in the back of a sea turtle, and due to the large dimension of the break and the clean, linear cut it showed, the staff of the Recovery Center ruled out that it was due to a shark attack.

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