CMS - The Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of
the Black and Mediterranean Seas
The Mediterranean and Black Seas hold a diverse range of
cetacean species. As with other cetaceans worldwide, the whales,
dolphins, and porpoises of this area move between their breeding,
feeding and over-wintering ranges, or follow their prey over long
distances. En route they encounter a variety of man-made threats,
including accidental entanglement in fishing gear (bycatch), marine
pollution, acoustic disturbance, hunting, whale-watching and
competition with fisheries. The scientific community has been aware
for several decades of the importance of the cetacean biodiversity
of the Mediterranean Sea. Since migrating cetaceans regularly cross
national boundaries, their effective protection requires
international cooperation.
The Agreement on
the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black and Mediterranean
Seas (ACCOBAMS) was concluded in Monaco in 1996 and
entered into force in 2001. ACCOBAMS is the first agreement of its
kind to bind the countries of the two seas to work together on a
problem of common concern. The Agreement requires members to
implement a comprehensive Conservation Plan, based first on respect
of legislation banning the deliberate capture of cetaceans in
fishing zones by their flag vessels or those subject to their
jurisdiction, on measures for minimizing incidental capture and,
finally, on the creation of protected zones, important for the
feeding, breeding and rearing of cetaceans. Governments also
undertake to assess and manage human-cetacean interactions, conduct
research and monitoring; develop programmes to inform, train and
educate the public, and set up emergency response measures.
Membership is open to all littoral states and to non-coastal States
of the Agreement area ('third countries') whose vessels are engaged
in activities which may affect cetaceans.
The UK has contributed funding on a voluntary basis to the
Agreement and is currently considering, with relevant Overseas
Territories, whether to accede to the Agreement.
JNCC has provided advice to the Government
(Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the
Foreign Office) on the Agreement's conservation objectives, and
staff joined the UK delegation at the first and second Meeting of
Parties to ACCOBAMS held in Monaco in 2002 and Palma da Mallorca in
2004.
February 2010