Investigators call for “effective control of Portugal’s 72 protected marine areas”

Investigators at the University of the Algarve’s CCMAR (Centre for Sciences of the Sea) are calling for effective control of the 72 ‘protected marine areas’ (AMP) of Portugal. This is because the only ‘control’ is exercised by investigators themselves, who have no powers to protect. Thus, activities within these areas are being detected that are very similar, if not exactly the same, as activities in other areas. Says Bárbara Horta e Costa “we are not protecting anything”: it is time for the State to exercise “effective checks”.