Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area

The Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area, or ACCOBAMS, is a regional international treaty that binds its States Parties on the conservation of Cetacea in their territories. The Agreement aims is to reduce threats to Cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as in the contiguous Atlantic area west of the Straits of Gibraltar.[1][2][3]

ACCOBAMS
TypeMultilateral
ContextCetacea conservation
Signed24 November 1996 (1996-11-24)
LocationMonaco
Effective1 June 2001
ConditionRatification by seven range states
Parties
DepositaryGovernment of Monaco
Languages

Bodies of the agreement

Meeting of the Parties

The Meeting of the Parties (MOP) is the main decision-making body of the Agreement. It meets triennially to review progress made towards the implementation of the Agreement, as well as any challenges this implantation faces. The MOP also adopts the budget for the Agreements and reviews scientific assessments on the conservation status of cetaceans of the Agreement area. Finally, at the MOP, member states also lay out the priorities for the next triennium.

Member states of the Agreement are automatically entitled to representation at the MOP and each have one vote. Additionally, organisations qualified in the conservation of cetaceans may also be represented by observers in the MOP.[4]

Bureau

The Bureau is the working body of the agreement and acts as the decision-making body for the agreement in-between the MOP, and carries out interim activities on it behalf. It also provides guidance to the Secretariat concerning the implementation and promotion of the Agreement.

The Bureau is composed of a Chair and Vice-Chairs, all elected by the MOP. Additionally, the Chair of the Scientific Committee is invited to participate as an observer. The Bureau meets at least once a year.[4]

Secretariat

The Secretariat is the executive body of the Agreement. It coordinates and organises the activities of the MOP, the Bureau and the Scientific Committee in order to ensure they can fully perform their assigned duties. Additionally, it monitors the budget, works to increase public awareness concerning the Agreement and its objectives, executes decisions addressed to it by the MOP and creates a report to present at each MOP on the work of all bodies of the Agreement.[4]

Scientific Committee

The Scientific Committee acts as an advisory body to the MOP. Its main duties include:

  • Providing advice to the MOP on scientific and technical matters
  • Conducting scientific assessments of the conservation status of cetacean populations in the Agreement Area
  • Advising on the development and co‐ordination of international research and monitoring programmes
  • Preparing for each session of the MOP a report of its activities

The Scientific Committee is composed of "persons qualified as experts in cetacean conservation science" and meets at the request of the MOP.[4]

Agreement area
This map shows the following:
  Agreement Area
  Agreement Area Extension
  Member States
  Range States

According to Article 1 of the Agreement, the geographic scope of this Agreement is as follows:[4]

  • All the maritime waters of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and their gulfs and seas
  • The internal waters connected to, or interconnecting, these maritime waters
  • The Atlantic area contiguous to the Mediterranean Sea west of the Straits of Gibraltar

In 2010, at MOP4, Portugal and Spain both submitted proposals to extend the Agreement area to cover parts of their respective exclusive economic zones. The proposal was adopted at the MOP, as Resolution A/4.1, and is currently in effect.[5][6]

Species

The Agreement covers 28 species of Cetacean that migrate throughout the range of the Agreement. [1][7][8]

Balaenidae

  • North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis)

Balaenopteridae

  • Common Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
  • Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis)
  • Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
  • Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
  • Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)

Delphinidae

  • Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
  • Risso's Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
  • Killer Whale (Orcinus orca)
  • Pygmy Killer Whale (Feresa attenuata)
  • Long-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melas)
  • Rough-Toothed Dolphin (Steno bredanensis)
  • Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)
  • Short-Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)
  • Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
  • False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens)
  • Black Sea Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus ponticus)

Kogiidae

  • Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogia breviceps)
  • Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia sima)

Phocoenidae

  • Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
  • Black Sea Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena relicta)

Physeteridae

  • Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
  • Dwarf Sperm Whale (Kogia simus)

Ziphiidae

  • Blainville's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon densirostris)
  • Sowerby's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon bidens)
  • Gervais' Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon europaeus)
  • True's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon mirus)
  • Cuvier's Beaked Whale (Ziphius cavirostris)

Member States

States Parties

The following are all the States Parties to the Agreement, as well as the date the Agreement entered into force in waters under their jurisdiction:

List of States Parties to ACCOBAMS [1][9][10][11]
CountrySignatureRatificationEntry into Force
 Albania24 November 199625 May 20011 October 2001
 Algeria
–
19 March 20071 December 2007
 Bulgaria16 September 199923 September 19991 June 2001
 Croatia24 November 19963 May 20001 June 2001
 Cyprus24 November 199630 January 20061 May 2006
 Egypt
–
4 March 20101 July 2010
 France24 November 199626 February 20041 June 2004
 Georgia24 November 199630 March 20011 June 2001
 Greece24 November 199624 November 19961 June 2001
 Italy24 November 199610 February 20051 September 2005
 Lebanon
–
5 May 20041 March 2005
 Libya
–
12 May 20021 September 2002
 Malta23 March 200123 March 20011 June 2001
 Monaco24 November 199625 April 20011 June 2001
 Montenegro
–
17 February 20091 August 2009
 Morocco28 March 199713 May 19991 June 2001
 Portugal24 November 199630 September 20041 January 2005
 Romania28 September 199813 June 20001 June 2001
 Slovenia
–
12 July 20061 December 2006
 Spain24 November 19967 January 20011 June 2001
 Syrian Arab Republic
–
7 February 20021 June 2002
 Tunisia24 November 199621 December 20011 April 2002
 Turkey
–
29 May 20171 February 2018
 Ukraine
–
9 July 20031 January 2004

Range States

The following are the Range States that have not ratified or acceded to the Agreement:[1][9]
Signed, but not ratified:

Other Range States:

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See also
  • List of environmental agreements
  • ASCOBANS
  • Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
  • Marine Protected Area

References
  1. "ACCOBAMS". CMS. UNEP/CMS Secretariat. n.d. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  2. "ACCOBAMS". OceanCare. OceanCare. n.d. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  3. "ODO becomes ACCOBAMS Partner". Oceanomare Delphis. Oceanomare Delphis ONLUS. n.d. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  4. Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area . Monaco: ACCOBAMS Secretariat. 1996 – via Wikisource.
  5. "Resolution A/4.1 – Amendments: Extension of the ACCOBAMS Geographical Scope" (PDF). ACCOBAMS. ACCOBAMS Secretariat. 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  6. "18th ASCOBANS Advisory Committee Meeting" (PDF). ASCOBANS. ASCOBANS Secretariat. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  7. Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area – Annex I . Monaco: ACCOBAMS Secretariat. 1996 – via Wikisource.
  8. di Sciara, Guiseppe Notarbartolo; Alexei, Birkun, Jr. (2010). Conserving whales, dolphins and porpoises in the Mediterranean and Black Seas: an ACCOBAMS status report, 2010 (PDF) (Report). Monaco: ACCOBAMS. p. 212. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  9. "List of Contracting Parties and Signatories to the Agreement" (PDF). ACCOBAMS. ACCOBAMS Permanent Secretariat. n.d. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  10. Authier, Matthieu; et al. (2017). "Cetacean conservation in the Mediterranean and Black Seas: Fostering transboundary collaboration through the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive" (PDF). Marine Policy. 82 (2017): 98–103. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2017.05.012. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  11. United Nations Environmental Programme (May 2015). "ACCOBAMS Survey Initiative - Project Identification Document" (PDF). Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas. RAC/SPA. pp. 13–16. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
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