HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 17/2

Adopted 12 March 1996, having regard to Article 13, Paragraph b) of the Helsinki Convention

PROTECTION OF HARBOUR PORPOISE IN THE BALTIC SEA AREA

THE COMMISSION,

DEEPLY CONCERNED about the population status of harbour porpoise in the Baltic Sea and AWARE that individual numbers have drastically decreased,

RECOGNIZING the relevance of the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS), the action list and relevant recommendations by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) and the resolutions of International Whaling Commission (IWC) and European Cetacean Society (ECS),

RECOGNIZING that harbour porpoise is and should remain an integral part of the marine ecosystems,

RECOGNIZING FURTHER that by-catches, habitat deterioration and disturbance adversely affects this species,

CONVINCED that the vulnerable status of harbour porpoise in the Baltic Sea calls for immediate actions in order to safeguard their survival,

RECOMMENDS that the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention:

a)      give highest priority to avoid by-catches of harbour porpoise;

b)      take action, in close co-operation with ICES, for the collection and analysis of additional data on population distribution and abundance, stock identities and threats such as pollutant levels, by-catch mortality, disturbance by shipping (e.g. under water noise);

c)      consider the establishment of protected marine areas for harbour porpoise within the framework of the Baltic Sea Protected Areas (BSPAs), when documented information is available that an area hosts harbour porpoise;

d)      report to the Commission every three years, beginning from 1998 on their progress in implementing the above recommendations.