TREMITI ISLANDS:
THE PHANTOM PROTECTION ZONE

ILLEGAL TRAWLING in a Supposedly Protected Area

The case of the Tremiti Islands’ Biological Protection Zone (ZTB) highlights the ongoing enforcement failure of marine conservation laws. Despite its protected status, the area remains subject to repeated incursions by illegal trawlers.

Illegal Trawling in Protected Waters

The Tremiti ZTB

Established in 2004, the Tremiti Biological Protection Zone (ZTB) was initially designated as a no-trawling area. However, since 2009, trawling has been officially allowed between 1 November and 31 March. For the rest of the year, the ban is still in place but evidence suggests it’s largely ignored.

MEDREACT’S INVESTIGATION

Between 2020 and 2021, vessels satellite tracking data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) revealed multiple instances of trawling activity during the closed season.
To verify these findings, MedReAct gathered testimonies from small-scale fishermen and local stakeholders in the Tremiti Islands, who confirmed the persistent presence of illegal trawlers in the ZTB.

MEDITERRANEAN PAPER PARKS

The Tremiti ZTB is not an isolated case. Many of Italy’s Biological Protection Zones exist only on paper. Small-scale fishermen are often the first to suffer from poor enforcement and lack of compliance.

Read the full REPORT

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The Mediterranean is a wealth of biodiversity, home to 17,000 marine species, 7.5% of those found globally. Yet only a tiny fraction of its waters are truly protected. Threatened by climate change, pollution, intensive and illegal fishing, the Mediterranean is losing its biodiversity.

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TREMITI ISLANDS: THE PHANTOM PROTECTION ZONE