Only 5% of sailors have anchored on posidonia this summer

The posidonia monitoring service of the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment has ended the season with more than 180,867 actions carried out, in which 5% of irregular anchorages have been detected, less than in 2022 when it was 10.8%.

Of the more than 180,000 actions, 12,321 correspond to vessels reported; 10,173 to those assisted for correct anchoring (before anchoring); and 150,795 to those checked to see if they were on posidonia. A total of 7,578 had to be moved.

The service, which is financed by Next Generation Funds, began on the 15th of May and ended on the 10th of October. It has had 19 boats (18 from the Government and another provided by the Consell de Menorca) that have been coordinated with others from natural areas, buoy fields and marine reserves through the Posidonia Telephone (617975172). The telephone has handled 371 queries related to complaints or doubts about anchoring.

With data from 2023, the monitoring service reveals an annual reduction in impacts on the meadows, an increase in knowledge and collaboration with the nautical sector and the contribution to the Mediterranean Posidonia network.

By islands, on Mallorca, the six vessels working on the island have carried out a total of 50,189 actions, of which 4,176 were to inform vessels; 3,372 to advise them; and 39,123 checks. The percentage of incorrect anchoring in Mallorca is 9% (3,518 boats have had to be moved).

On the other hand, in Ibiza, the four vessels of the Service have carried out 46,359 actions, of which 3,938 correspond to information and 3,951 to advice. In addition, 36,251 anchored vessels have been checked, of which 2,219 have been moved. Thus, irregular anchoring stands at 6.1%.

As for Formentera, the five vessels have executed 44,896 actions. Of the 42,823 checked, 600 had to be moved. Thus, the percentage of incorrect anchoring was 1.4%.

Finally, in Menorca, 39,423 actions have been carried out. The four vessels providing the service informed 3,653 boats; they advised 1,931 and checked the anchoring of 32,598. Of these, 1,241 were moved, which means that the percentage of irregular anchoring was 3.8%.

However, it should be noted that this year the Environment Agents have issued a total of 110 reports on boats for anchoring on Posidonia on all the islands (51 in Mallorca, 48 in Menorca and 11 in the Pitiusas).

The areas with the greatest impact in Mallorca are the coast of Calvià, the bay of Portocolom and Sóller. In Ibiza, the bay of Sant Antoni, Talamanca and Porroig stand out. This year, Menorca has seen a general improvement in anchoring and the operation of the buoys in Fornells. Formentera, once again, stands out with only 1.4% of boats with the anchor or chain in posidonia.

Anna Torres, director general of Natural Environment and Forest Management, assessed the data and stressed that, since its creation in 2017, the posidonia operation has been essential to reduce the impact of anchors and chains on the vital meadows themselves.

"One of the great achievements this year has been the optimisation of the anchoring of large vessels, especially mega-yachts. The use of mapping applications to help with anchoring has been crucial to avoid the negative impact that large anchors can have on the meadows," Torres explained.

This season, an application has been incorporated to collect specific data on the vessels that anchor on Posidonia, including the type of boat, the nationality of the skipper and the reasons for incorrect anchoring.

In this regard, it has been found that sailboats and private motor boats are the most involved in irregular anchoring, especially when they come from the peninsular coast and the French coast.

Of the vessels that have anchored incorrectly, 81.6% have not used anchoring mapping applications. Analysis of the data collected indicates that ignorance and error are the main causes of irregular anchoring.

The service underlines that the lack of awareness is more pronounced among non-local skippers and stresses the need for education and awareness raising at international level.