Marine Surveillance Service inspects 50,000 hectares of coastline to protect posidonia seaweed

The Valencia region´s Marine Surveillance Service is inspecting 50,000 hectares of coastline to establish a network to monitor marine species, habitats and protected areas with the aim of preserving the posidonia meadows of the Valencian Community.

This service, which depends on the General Directorate of Natural and Animal Environment, has expanded the surveillance network in 2024, so the presence of work at sea has been 810 days and the vessels have travelled more than 37,000 kilometres of the Valencian coastline, which are the best records to date.

In this regard, the Director General of Natural and Animal Environment, Luis Gomis, has highlighted that the surveillance device “is made up of a team of 19 marine professionals and eight vessels managed by the Ministry, which represents the largest deployment since the start of this program in 2022”.

Thus, the eight base ports from which the vessels depart for the work are El Perelló, Dénia, Alcossebre, Oropesa del Mar, Xàbia, Calp, El Campello and Torrevieja.

In addition, the current surveillance network will also have two new vessels since 2024 that carry out surveillance and control work on the coast of L’Albufera and in Dénia. “This network for monitoring marine species, habitats and protected areas allows us to collect all the information of interest on nautical activity and to report on the ecological and regulatory importance associated with posidonia oceanica,” added Luis Gomis.

The Marine Surveillance Service has managed to reduce the number of anchors on posidonia meadows during the three years it has been active. In addition, from September 2024, environmental agents have begun to board the service’s boats to report these violations.

This year, for the first time, a process of disseminating the regulations associated with seagrass meadows has been carried out in five different nautical clubs: Club Náutico Oropesa del Mar, Marina El Portet in Dénia, Club Náutico in Moraira and El Campello, as well as the Real Club Náutico in Torrevieja.

Monitoring plan

The Department of Environment, Infrastructure and Territory has brought together experts from all over Spain to analyse the status of this species in the Valencian Community, within the framework of the presentation day of the Posidonia monitoring plan, which was held in Alicante.

As the Director General of Natural and Animal Environment has pointed out, posidonia acts against “deterioration in water quality, loss of biodiversity and even the regression of our beaches”. He added that this species “provides oxygen, provides shelter and is a breeding ground for species of interest, as well as acting as a barrier against erosion”.

Posidonia is very sensitive to contamination by wastewater and hydrocarbons, as well as by coastal construction. In addition, the practice of water sports can increase direct attacks due to indiscriminate anchoring.

Protection of grasslands

Through decree 64/2022, the Consell regulates the conservation of seagrass meadows in the Valencian Community, including also Cymodocea nodosa meadows. This decree contemplates the need to implement a monitoring plan, as well as specifies that surveillance, inspection and control are the responsibility of the Generalitat.

In this sense, the monitoring plan launched in 2024, which was analysed at this conference, addresses research into the state of conservation of the meadows of the Valencian Community, and establishes a protocol of sampling points by depth ranges, from the shore to depths exceeding 25 metres.

This is a project that, together with the work of coastguards and environmental agents, has made it possible to create a network for monitoring the marine coastline and studying the nautical uses of each space in the Natura 2000 marine network, providing logistical support and technical advice to researchers, law enforcement agents and Maritime Rescue.

During this session, Gomis explained that our seagrass meadows “are currently in a good state of conservation, however, there is a wide margin for improvement in their recovery in those areas where they have been reduced or disappeared.” Therefore, “it is our duty and our responsibility to redouble our efforts and work side by side towards this common goal,” he concluded.