🎙️ Diving into the Mediterranean: Science, Survival and the Future of Fisheries

In this episode, we dive beneath the surface of the Mediterranean Sea to explore one of its most extraordinary — and endangered — inhabitants: the Pinna nobilis, commonly known as the fan mussel or nacra.

Once abundant across Mediterranean seabeds, this iconic species — one of the largest bivalve molluscs in the world — has almost entirely disappeared over the past decade. The cause: a devastating parasite believed to have spread through commercial and tourist shipping routes. In some regions, mortality rates have reached nearly 100%, pushing the species to the brink of extinction.

To understand the scale of the crisis and the scientific efforts underway to reverse it, we speak with José Tena, director of the Instituto de Investigación en Medio Ambiente y Ciencia Marina at the Universidad Catolica de Valencia. His team is working to identify resistant individuals, study the parasite’s impact, and develop strategies to safeguard the remaining populations.

The programme also broadens the lens to examine wider Mediterranean marine policy. We hear from Daniel Voces, Director General of Europêche, the leading representative body of the European fishing sector. As the European Union moves forward with its new fisheries control regulation, industry voices are calling on Brussels to reconsider certain measures that they believe could significantly affect the sector.

Listen to the full programme

This episode brings together science, conservation and policy — three interconnected forces shaping the future of our seas. From the silent disappearance of a keystone species to the complex debate over sustainable fisheries management, the Mediterranean stands at a crossroads.

Listen to the full programme to discover how research, regulation and collective responsibility will determine what lies ahead for one of the world’s most culturally and ecologically significant seas.