Cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas
New report on the status of porpoises, dolphins and whales now
available
Porpoises, dolphins and whales of many kinds abounded in the Black
and Mediterranean seas when humans arrived and for millennia thereafter.
Over the last few centuries and especially the 19th and 20th, however,
the numbers and range of these aquatic mammals have dwindled as a result
of human actions -- in some cases deliberate and in some cases
accidental. Concern for the conservation status of cetaceans in the
Black and Mediterranean Seas was reflected in the 1991 Action Plan of the
Barcelona Convention and in the global action plans for cetacean
conservation published by the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Species
Survival Commission’s Cetacean Specialist Group (CSG) in 1988, 1989, 1994
and 2003. Two populations from the region have already been listed in the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – the Black Sea subspecies of the
Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena relicta) as Vulnerable (1996)
and the Mediterranean subpopulation of Short-beaked Common Dolphins
(Delphinus delphis) as Endangered (2003). Scientists working
in the region have long recognised the need for additional detailed
assessments, expecting that other species and populations would also
qualify for threatened status.
Fortunately, an expanding cadre of dedicated researchers have been
working hard to bring attention to the plight of Black Sea and
Mediterranean cetaceans, with the hope of stemming the decline and
supporting recovery. One important dimension of that effort is to marshal
authoritative information on the status of the various species and to
highlight specific areas or types of activity that require urgent
attention. With this objective, a workshop was held at the Ministry
of State in Monaco on 5-7 March 2006. Its stated purpose was to assess
all populations of Mediterranean and Black Sea cetaceans against the 2001
IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (Version 3.1). The IUCN Red List
Authority for cetacean species and populations resides within the
Cetacean Specialist Group, and therefore the CSG played a central role in
the workshop’s organization and conduct. Randall Reeves, CSG chairman,
and Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, CSG deputy chairman, co-organised
the workshop in consultation with the sponsoring bodies. An important
development in the history of cetacean conservation in the region was the
establishment in 2001 of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans
of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area
(ACCOBAMS) within the framework of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP)/Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). At the ACCOBAMS
Meeting of Parties in 2004 the decision was taken to seek a closer
working relationship with IUCN. As a first step towards implementing that
decision, ACCOBAMS welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with the IUCN
Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation in Malaga by co-organising and
co-sponsoring the Mediterranean/Black Sea Cetacean Red List
Workshop.
This compilation, provided jointly by IUCN-MED and ACCOBAMS, should give
governments, industries, recreationists, militaries and environmental
activists in the region a common starting point for deciding how and
where to allocate limited resources as they try to repair the damage and
prevent further harm to ecosystems which are still, quite literally,
under assault.
Following publication of the workshop report, assessments will be
submitted for review and endorsement by the Cetacean Specialist Group and
then forwarded to the IUCN Red List Programme and the Global Mammal
Assessment. The report is available at:
http://iucn.org/places/medoffice/en/index.html (includes
versions in English, Spanish and French), and
http://www.accobams.org/2006.php/publications/all (English only)
Randall R. Reeves
Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara
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