Harbour porpoise © Erik Christensen (CC BY-SA 3.0)

In this issue:

  30th anniversary of ASCOBANS
Common dolphins © Canva.com

Statement of Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary of ASCOBANS to Mark the 30th Anniversary of the Agreement

Today, we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of ASCOBANS – the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North-East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas.

Read more
Harbour porpoise is one of the species that benefits from tailored conservation activities under ASCOBANS for the past three decades. © Adobe Stock Photos

Thirty Years of Conservation Measures for Small Cetaceans in European Seas

Thursday 17 March 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS) – a regional environmental treaty of the United Nations.

Read more
Common dolphins by Josh Wilson of AK Wildlife Cruises Falmouth | @oshuwilson

ASCOBANS 30: The Beginnings

Concerns over the conservation status of small cetaceans, especially harbour porpoises, led to the establishment of the "Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Sea" (ASCOBANS).

Read more
  Meetings and workshops
Delphinus delphis © Benjamin GUICHARD / French biodiversity agency.

3rd Meeting of the ASCOBANS Common Dolphin Group

The 3rd Meeting of the Steering Group for the ASCOBANS Species Action Plan (SAP) for the North-East Atlantic Common Dolphin (Common Dolphin Group) was held online from 15 to 16 November 2022. Attended by 30 participants from France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, the UK, European Commission, ACCOBAMS, and a number of NGOs and academic institutions, CDG3 discussed progress in SAP implementation and a number of other topics feeding into that progress.

Read more
Harbour porpoise © Hanna Michel.

27th Meeting of the ASCOBANS Advisory Committee

The 27th meeting of the ASCOBANS Advisory Committee (AC27) took place online, for the second consecutive time, from 28 to 30 September 2022. This meeting covered bycatch, resource depletion, marine debris, surveys and research, and use of stranding records, as requested in ASCOBANS Resolution 8.1 (Rev.MOP9).

Read more
Tursiops truncatus © Benjamin GUICHARD / French biodiversity agency.

Second Workshop on Management of MPAs for Small Cetaceans in Helsinki, Finland

The 2nd ASCOBANS Workshop on MPA Management for Small Cetaceans took place in Helsinki, at the kind invitation of the Ministry of the Environment, Finland, from 31 May to 2 June 2022.

Read more
JG18 in full swing. ©  Jenny Renell, ASCOBANS Secretariat

18th Meeting of the Jastarnia Group

For the first time in nearly three years, participants could gather for a face-to-face meeting of ASCOBANS again. The 18th Meeting of the Jastarnia Group took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 28 to 30 March 2022, and was also attended by a small number of online participants.

Read more
© Florian Graner

10th Meeting of the North Sea Group

The tenth Meeting of the Steering Group for the ASCOBANS Conservation Plan for Harbour Porpoises in the North Sea (the North Sea Group) took place online from 18th to 19th January 2022. Chaired by Prof Peter Evans (Bangor University & Sea Watch Foundation UK), the aim of the meeting was to exchange countries' updates on the implementation of actions listed in the Conservation Plan.

Read more
  Other news
The International Day of the Baltic Harbour Porpoise 2022

International Day of the Baltic Harbour Porpoise 15 May 2022

The third Sunday in May of each year is the International Day of the Baltic Harbour Porpoise (IDBHP). It was introduced 20 years ago by the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (UNEP/ASCOBANS). IDBHP aims to raise awareness on the critical conservation status of the only cetacean species population native to the Baltic Sea.

Read more
Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

Article Published on Ecosystem Effects of Small Cetaceans

Small cetaceans may have big effects on ecosystem structure, dynamics, and function. A new article Functional Roles and Ecological Importance of Small Cetaceans in Aquatic Ecosystems has been published in Frontiers in Marine Science (open access) as a part of the research topic 'Small Cetacean Conservation: Current Challenges and Opportunities'.

Read more