Boat owners keen to prevent the destruction of sea meadows

The number of boats using ecological moorings has risen yet again. In 2008 the figure rose by 26% and the signs are that this rate of increase will carry on into 2009. According to Marine Director Tomeu Calafell the two most popular spots are at Porto Petro and Cala Blava, with demand surging at weekends.

Ecological mooring involves fixing a boat to a permanent buoy, thus eliminating the need for an anchor, which can damage the sensitive ecology of the sea floor as it gets dragged around.

Mallorca’s ecological moorings are a free service that have been operating since 2006, and Calafell estimates that around 17,000 vessels make use of them each season, with 40 percent of users at any one time doing so for the first time. Currently there are 725 ecological buoys around the island, with the aim of protecting the Posidonia sea meadows that are easily damaged by anchors. Calafell says that the results so far have been ‘very encouraging’.

The soaring demand has placed pressure on the Environment Department to construct more ecological moorings and produce a new design.