FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PRESENTATION
La Rochelle, France,
November 21-23, 2008
Hosted by the
University of La Rochelle (LIENSs / CRMM)
http://marinemammal.univ-lr.fr/colloque2008En.html
Theme :
Marine mammals are important actors in marine
ecosystems. Their position of top predators confers them a general
value of
indicators of marine ecosystem conservation state and exposes them to
several types
of pressures related to human activities at sea, including accumulation
of
contaminants along food webs and interactions with fisheries. Other
sources of
pressures and threats, independent of their role of top predators,
include inter alia disturbance, collisions with
ships and acoustic pollution. In most European countries, marine
mammals are
protected by national, EU and international texts, which clarify the
responsibility of governments in monitoring and conservation of these
populations (Marine Protected Areas, national regulation on protected
species, Habitat
Directive, Common Fishery Policy, regional agreements ASCOBANS and
ACCOBAMS, …). However
indicators proposed to estimate the status of marine mammal
populations are only defined in very general terms, with mainly two
criteria that
are fairly easy to express but difficult to document: abundance and
distribution. Other approaches are empirically used but their value as
monitoring tools has not been really assessed; they notably include
acoustic monitoring,
stranding schemes, coastal watch and at-sea sightings from platforms of
opportunity. As a consequence, to elaborate properly a strategy for
monitoring
the conservation status of marine mammal populations in Europe, it is
necessary
to compare available methods and estimate the performance of potential
indicators, in terms of their capacity to detect changes in wild
populations
and of their cost-effectiveness.
The objectives of the meeting will thus
encompass
the following topics:
1. Expressing the societal demand in monitoring
marine mammal
populations
2. Converting the societal demand into
measurable parameters
3. Existing practices of monitoring
4. Marine mammal population indicators and their
performance
5. Examples of integrated monitoring strategies
Expected participants would include people in
charge of public environmental policies, in particular as to the
monitoring and
conservation of marine mammal populations and habitats at national, EU
and
international levels, research groups in marine mammal biology and
conservation
and field correspondents or operators who collect and synthesize data
relative
to the state of conservation of marine mammal populations. It will thus
be a
unique opportunity to gather actors involved at all levels in
monitoring marine
mammal populations, from policy makers to data collectors.
http://marinemammal.univ-lr.fr/colloque2008En.html
For more information do not hesitate
to contact us at: conference2008@univ-lr.fr
The organizing committee :
The Ecology and Conservation of
Marine Mammal research group of the University of La Rochelle
(constituted of Centre de Recherche sur les Mammifères
Marins CRMM and Littoral
Environnement et Sociétés LIENSs, Joint Research Unit 6250
CNRS/ULR) will
host an international symposium on strategies for monitoring marine
mammal
populations, from 21-23 November 2008 in La Rochelle, France.
The symposium is
hosted by: University of La
Rochelle, France
sponsored by: French Agency of the
Marine Protected Areas, French Ministry of Environment, Centre National
de la
Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Regional Council of Poitou-Charentes
and supported by: ACCOBAMS, ASCOBANS
For
the organizing committee,
Pr
Vincent Ridoux, University of La Rochelle.