Sea turtles and dolphins forage in seagrass meadows across the Mediterranean. Among nature’s most efficient carbon sinks and coastal buffers against storm surge, seagrasses have been declining for decades as a result of unrestricted fishing activity.

Blue Marine Foundation, ClientEarth and the Environmental Justice Foundation filed a complaint to the European Commission against Italy to challenge the poor implementation of EU Nature Conservation legislation in its Natura 2000 sites, especially in relation to fisheries management. Target Natura 2000 sites were established to protect sensitive seabed habitats and species. The sites concerned by the complaint host a range of targeted ‘features’ for protection, principally reefs (made of carboniferous limestone), seagrass beds and rich sandbanks. The constituent species on these features need as much protection as the physical features themselves, but have not been protected through necessary management.

The case also highlights the lack of protection of the loggerhead turtle and habitat quality and prey availability of the bottlenose dolphin in two sites, one in the Tyrrhenian Sea and one in the Northern Adriatic. 

The case has been brought to ensure that the Commission properly enforces EU Nature legislation in Italian seas.

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