{"id":13489,"date":"2025-06-04T15:31:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T13:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medreact.org\/?post_type=comunicati_stampa&#038;p=13489"},"modified":"2025-09-29T16:02:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:02:17","slug":"world-champion-zecchini-freedives-with-medreact-ahead-of-unoc-to-urge-france-to-fully-protect-the-gulf-of-lion-fisheries-restricted-area","status":"publish","type":"comunicati_stampa","link":"https:\/\/medreact.org\/en\/press_releases\/world-champion-zecchini-freedives-with-medreact-ahead-of-unoc-to-urge-france-to-fully-protect-the-gulf-of-lion-fisheries-restricted-area\/","title":{"rendered":"World champion Zecchini freedives with MedReAct ahead of UNOC to urge France to fully protect the Gulf of Lion Fisheries Restricted Area"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXdBpH2AqBEcjGk6umgpa29vV40L3tsGhOjga5j1bSkvP-HJNRGQp678hR2xdTlCr9LNwvtKSjY0D3Hvq_-ApQORaSNc0Ium8wpIfl0LTDp00hzVi1rmeHyNR7MiI1Ncz2rfAbqY-g?key=4mZM3ENPV95ADIn87dvM9Q\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Alessia and MedReAct - PROTECT-ENFORCE-RESTORE\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V6yLyi8ETyk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Marseille, 4 June 2025 -<\/em> World champion Alessia Zecchini performed a free dive off Marseille, calling on France to permanently close bottom fishing in the Gulf of Lion Fisheries Restricted Area (FRA), and to take urgent action to protect the most vulnerable ecosystems of the Mediterranean. The symbolic action organised with the NGO <a href=\"https:\/\/medreact.org\/en\/\">MedReAct<\/a> happened in the lead up to the <a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/conferences\/ocean2025\">United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice<\/a> (UNOC, 9-13 June), where world countries will discuss supporting actions to preserve the oceans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wearing a diving suit with the message \u201c<strong>PROTECT-ENFORCE-RESTORE<\/strong>\u201d under the French flag, Alessia Zecchini dived 40 metres in the Gulf of Lion, near the only Fisheries Restricted Area established by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fao.org\/gfcm\/en\/\">General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)<\/a>, where bottom trawling is still allowed in the large majority of the protected area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201c<\/em>As a professional diver the sea is my life, but now, when I dive in the Mediterranean, I see a desertified landscape. I used to dive since a young child, and today, some twenty years later, I\u2019m witnessing the worsening of the Mediterranean crisis\u201d, said Alessia<strong> <\/strong>Zecchini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Gulf of Lion is one of the areas in the Mediterranean with the worst depletion of some fish stocks such as hake.\u00a0 Overfishing also\u00a0 impacts\u00a0 vulnerable marine ecosystems and species, aggravating climate change impacts\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYet the Mediterranean maintains a potential to recover, if immediate and effective&nbsp; conservation measures are put into place.&nbsp; We must take action now, to ensure the resilience of the Mediterranean and the future of coastal communities who rely on its resources\u201d,<strong> <\/strong>concluded<strong> <\/strong>Zecchini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Established in 2008, the Gulf of Lion FRA was meant to protect fragile deep-sea ecosystems and spawning grounds for commercial species. However, over 15 years later, bottom trawling is still allowed for six months each year, defying the 2008 GFCM scientific advice&nbsp; for a permanent ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elysee.fr\/emmanuel-macron\/2021\/09\/03\/ceremonie-douverture-du-congres-mondial-de-la-nature-de-liucn\">Despite President Macron\u2019s 2021 commitment to strictly <strong>PROTECT<\/strong> 5% of French Mediterranean waters by 2027,<strong> <\/strong><\/a>progress has been minimal<strong>. <\/strong>The Gulf of Lion FRA remains a glaring example of France\u2019s failure to <strong>ENFORCE<\/strong> its own commitments in the Mediterranean.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In stark contrast, the Jabuka\/Pomo<strong> <\/strong>Pit FRA in the Adriatic, where bottom trawling was banned in 2017, has seen fish biomass&nbsp; more than double in just a few years, proving that full protection works and can&nbsp; <strong>RESTORE<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>fishing grounds heavily overexploited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFrance cannot credibly lead global ocean protection while failing at home,\u201d said Domitilla Senni, MedReAct\u2019s Executive Director<strong>. <\/strong>\u201cWith this symbolic dive we want to sound the alarm on the marine crisis of the Mediterranean and urge France to act now to fully protect the Gulf of Lion FRA and speedily move forward to reach its 5% full protection target.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Media Contact<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Val\u00e9rie de Baecque<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tracking.launchmetrics.com\/?ref=LhQAAPlrhpvTh6xwwtyQhbB9-4YSYSA1AQAAAHV-lk0QoTvQdkab75Ix4D3_P_QsrRbf2aZBc2thkl-hCA94HNgxpzxJf3XlBwKs5yMbk4rbRNfQnfvQqE-fXcc1oOMBKy0HGiBLBE6Nxi4LvBaf_YXm5MWxHac2q-RRwelyaxpepcENQ3OX6S2YcOIiBMAbmIPq7L5KRkCmk8jJQtlXSMENsR9JTgwAnL9pVOq1MmsvV4ypo4QEC7XMWfJ73aDFUXXe9PSVWrhzglPtyanFLNczodk1hhkpC2g5bhLfXLAcBQb1TJ_Oy-J79A-GP8PO4R0p7gj_ji_PBMvzCBxKOgRbvdvaxph_yf6ymQ\">valerie@press-consultant.com <\/a>or <strong>Patricia Roy<\/strong>, <a href=\"mailto:patricia@press-consultant.com\">patricia@press-consultant.com<\/a> Tel. +34 671 66 10 12 \/ +34 696 905 907<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Luisa Colasimone,<\/strong> MedReAct communication, +351 910678050 (also WA\/Signal), <a href=\"mailto:lglcolasimone@gmail.com\">lglcolasimone@gmail.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13492,"template":"","categories":[40,38,49,50],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-13489","comunicati_stampa","type-comunicati_stampa","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fishing","category-marine-reserves","category-news-en","category-press-review","tag-in-evidenza-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>World champion Zecchini freedives with MedReAct ahead of UNOC to urge France to fully protect the Gulf of Lion Fisheries Restricted Area | MedReAct<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"World champion Alessia Zecchini performed a free dive off Marseille, calling on France to permanently close bottom fishing in the Gulf of Lion Fisheries Restricted Area (FRA).\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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