At the 2nd Meeting of the Parties to ACCOBAMS the 16 Parties to the Agreement consensually argued for ambitious initiatives that should improve the conservation of whales and dolphins in the Agreement Area.

The Parties agreed on a comprehensive Working Program that lists eleven priority actions for the period 2005 – 2007 on. They encouraged close collaboration with related Conventions, International Organisations and ACCOBAMS` Partners that will ensure the effective implementation of the Program. This effort benefits from ACCOBAMS` important regional and international role for the conservation of cetaceans. This has also been reflected in its enhanced collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and CMS at this conference. Complementing these efforts, the Parties agreed to contribute towards the implementation of the Joint Work Programme between CMS and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as being a vital part within the preparation and implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans.

The Parties highly welcomed a Conservation Plan for the Common Dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea. In 2003 the Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) population has been recognised as „endangered“ in the IUCN Red List as a result of scientific evidence that has documented the decline of common dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea in the last few decades and its almost disappearance from large areas of its former range.
Much attention was given to a resolution assessing the impact of man-made noise on cetaceans knowing that some types of anthropogenic noise can travel hundreds and even thousands of kilometres underwater and, more than other forms of pollution, are not restricted to national boundaries. Consensually, the Parties agreed on the Resolution, which urges Range States to take special care and, if appropriate, to avoid any use of man made noise in habitat of vulnerable species and in areas where marine mammals or endangered species may be concentrated. Parties should seek to avoid underwater sound that might cause adverse effects on cetaceans and exercise extreme caution in the ACCOBAMS area until satisfactory guidelines are developed.

Bycatch of cetaceans has been identified as one of the main concerns of CMS and its Regional Agreements being one of the major causes of mortality from human activities. Special concern has been expressed by the ACCOBAMS Parties over the continued use of pelagic gill nets in the Agreement Area in contrast to mainstream international and national legislation. In a Resolution the Parties are urged to ensure that their fishing operations are conducted in full accordance with the relevant existing regulations aimed at the mitigation of cetacean bycatch. Furthermore, a project to assess and mitigate the adverse impacts of interactions between cetaceans and fishing activities in the Agreement Area is planned to be undertaken. Adopting “Guidelines for technical measures to minimize cetacean-fishery conflicts in the Mediterranean and Black Seas forward has made a progressive and precautionary step“. One of the techniques for the remediation of by-catches in fishing gear are acoustic devices, including so called „pingers“, which on nature and on different components of biodiversity cannot be fully assessed or predicted at present as they may produce significant noise pollution and possibly exclude cetaceans from certain areas. Recognising this fact, the Parties are urged that the use of pingers, where authorized and appropriate, only be conducted with controlled studies to ensure that they are an effective mitigation measure and link any use of pingers with an observer scheme designed to monitor their efficiency over time.

The development of criteria for the selection of special protected areas for cetacean conservation, the adoption of „framework guidelines on the derogations for the purpose of non-lethal in situ research aimed at maintaining a favourable conservation status for cetaceans“, the undertaking of a massive project on the „abundance and distribution of cetaceans within the ACCOBAMS area“, the promotion of photo-identification activities, providing support to the Tissue Bank system and the development of and engagement in an educational strategy and programme as part of the awareness raising initiatives of the Agreement have been other important items the Parties welcomed and agreed on. Strengthening the link to IUCN and recognising the important role of Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) in Cetacean Conservation, ACCOBAMS has reconfirmed to be fully transparent and successful due to the involvement of Partners, governmental or non governmental, to reach the same objectives: the conservation of cetaceans in the Agreement Area.

Marie-Christine Van Klaveren, Executive Secretary of ACCOBAMS said: „The Second Meeting of the Parties was an important milestone and showed that ACCOBAMS has grown to become an important instrument for the conservation not only of whales and dolphins but of the Mediterranean and Black Seas as a whole.“

The 2nd Meeting of the Parties was held 9 to 12 November in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Around 80 delegates, comprising representatives from the Parties, observing countries and ACCOBAMS Partners, IGOs and NGOs etc, attended the meeting.

The Government of Croatia has extended the invitation to host the next Meeting of the Parties that will take place in the end of 2007. The waters of the Losinj-Cres Archipelago, Croatia, have been identified to be an important habitat for bottlenose dolphins. Since 2002, with the support of the Principality of Monaco, the Croatian Research Institute „Blue World Institute of Marine Research and Conservation“ started the project that aims to establish a protected area for this species. Preliminary results have been presented to the Parties during the MOP2.

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