Local politicians have opened up Europe’s largest marine reserve for commercial fishing

The Selvagens Islands Nature Reserve in Portugal’s Madeira region is Europe’s largest fully protected marine area, having been expanded in 2021 to 2,677 square kilometres, an area larger than Luxembourg (F. Alves et al. Nature 601, 318; 2022). But a decision by the regional authorities to reverse a commitment to ban fishing there puts one of the last intact marine ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean at risk (A. M. Friedlander et al. PLoS ONE 12, e0187935; 2017).

Nature 632, 985 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02754-2

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Subjects

• Fisheries
• Ecology
• Environmental sciences
• Policy