A world champion freediver is calling on France to permanently close bottom fishing in the Gulf of Lion Fisheries Restricted Area (FRA) to protect the most vulnerable ecosystems of the Mediterranean.
Wearing a wetsuit emblazoned with the message ‘PROTECT–ENFORCE–RESTORE’, Alessia Zecchini descended 40 metres into the waters near the Frioul archipelago off Marseille, highlighting ongoing threats to marine life in one of the Mediterranean’s only official protected zones where bottom trawling is still permitted for half the year.
“As a professional diver the sea is my life,” said Zecchini. “But now, when I dive in the Mediterranean, I see a desertified landscape. I’ve been diving since childhood, and I’m witnessing the worsening of the Mediterranean crisis.”
The symbolic dive, organised with the NGO MedReAct, comes ahead of the United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice, where global leaders will meet next week to tackle ocean protection.
Despite being established in 2008 to protect deep-sea ecosystems, the Gulf of Lion FRA still allows bottom trawling, ignoring longstanding scientific recommendations. MedReAct’s executive director Domitilla Senni warned, “France cannot credibly lead global ocean protection while failing at home.”
“Full protection works,” Senni added, pointing to the Adriatic’s Jabuka/Pomo Pit FRA, where a bottom trawl ban has led to a doubling of fish biomass.
“The Mediterranean can recover if we act now,” said Zecchini. “Protecting it ensures the future of our oceans and the coastal communities who depend on them.”
