ARCHIVED - Removal of seaweed restrictions to protect Valencia coastline
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
A new ruling will prohibit the clearing of seaweed on beaches in Alicante and the rest of the region for five months to prevent coastal regression
The Valencian government is restricting the removal of seaweed on the region's shores for five months of the year to protect the coastline, and plans to stop the uncontrolled anchoring of pleasure and sport fishing boats.
The new ruling, which is currently being finalised, will ban the clearing of marine plants and algae on all beaches in the Valencia Community between October 15 and March 15, when seaweed piles are higher due to storms.
"Aquatic plants Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa (seba), for example, are of great importance for the coastal area and are already protected in a generic way in state and regional legislation. They not only guarantee transparent waters due to their enormous oxygenation capacity, something that is noticeable along the 466 kilometres of Valencian coastline, but their accumulation on the shores of the beaches prevent coastal regression," explained the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
The decree, inspired by regional legislation in the Balearic Islands, will also regulate the currently uncontrolled and rarely sanctioned anchoring of recreational and sports fishing boats on the protected seaweed meadows
The aim is to "guarantee the conservation of protected seaweed meadows and the biological communities" by regulating uses and activities that may affect species and habitats both at sea and in the coastal sea-land area.
"There is scientific evidence of the intimate connection between the equilibrium of the posidonia meadow in the sea and the sedimentary conditions of the coastline. Of extraordinary environmental value, the meadows attenuate the energy of waves and currents, reducing erosion and sand loss on beaches, where they also play an active long-term role in natural regeneration," added Alfonso Ramos, professor in the Department of Marine Sciences and Biology at the University of Alicante.
His research team has been studying the importance of the 'algal mounds' (arribazones) that accumulate on the shoreline, and their "key" role in protecting the sand.
"They protect the beach from sand loss and provide nutrients to the sandy environment," explained Ramos.
In addition to their role in sand retention, these algae produce organic matter – 35-40 tonnes of dry matter per hectare per year – and above all are a great source of oxygenatio, from five to 20 litres of water per square metre.
They provide a habitat for more than 400 species of plants and 1,000 species of animals, many of them of "commercial interest", and also capture CO2, acting as a climate change mitigator.
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