Tenerife Launches Official Study to Establish Teno and Anaga Marine Reserves
The Tenerife Island Council has commissioned a 230,000-euro technical study to establish official marine reserves in Teno and Anaga, aiming to restore local ecosystems and support sustainable fishing.
Protecting the marine ecosystems at the tips of Tenerife is no longer just a goal; it is now an official administrative project. The island council (Cabildo) has commissioned a 230,000-euro technical study, set to take one year, which will serve as the foundation for declaring Teno and Anaga as marine reserves. This move follows a roadmap agreed upon by national, regional, and island authorities to help restore depleted local fishing grounds.
This initiative revives a proposal first made nearly 40 years ago by biologist Juan José Bacallado. By granting these coastal areas strict legal protection, the government aims to manage fishing more effectively, allowing marine life to recover by limiting fishing activity and increasing surveillance. The study, conducted by the public company Tragsa Tec, will provide the documentation required by the central government to finalize the declaration—a step agreed upon during meetings in Madrid last June.
The study will examine how to balance environmental conservation with local economic activities like fishing, tourism, and diving. Valentín González, the Councilor for the Primary Sector, emphasized that the project’s success depends on reaching a broad consensus among these groups. These areas are vital due to their unique geography and isolation, which have helped preserve biodiversity that researchers from the University of La Laguna and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) consider essential to the island’s ecological health.
The project covers 47 kilometers of coastline, split between Teno and Anaga—a plan that was approved by the Cabildo and the Canary Islands government back in 2010. For the island administration, these reserves are a way to ensure the long-term survival of artisanal fishing and support sustainable seafood consumption. By moving forward with this study, Tenerife is taking a major step toward protecting a significant portion of the archipelago’s natural wealth and turning a long-standing request into official policy.