12th Meeting of the North Sea Group in Zandvoort

The 12th Meeting of the Steering Group for the ASCOBANS Conservation Plan for Harbour Porpoise in the North Sea (North Sea Group) took place in Zandvoort, Netherlands, from 12 to 13 March 2024. The meeting invited representatives from several North Sea countries and other experts to assess the current state of harbour porpoise conservation and develop strategies for future action. This resulted in 27 key recommendations, spanning multiple categories, and aimed at addressing significant threats to harbour porpoises, such as bycatch, habitat disturbances, and the impact of human activities in the North Sea.

The Steering Group discussed alternative mitigation measures to reduce bycatch rates and considered a management procedure approach for determining target limits for anthropogenic removals, including bycatch, across the North Sea region. A notable recommendation focused on improving bycatch detection. The group encouraged the sharing of resources between Parties to automate the monitoring of bycatch through electronic systems. This would streamline the identification of incidents and enhance response capabilities. Another key outcome involved a request to the Joint Noise Working Group of CMS, ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS. The group was tasked with compiling noise criteria currently used by individual nations to regulate underwater sound pollution.

The meeting saw a variety of presentations from different countries, including bycatch reviews from Sweden and Denmark, and implementation reports from Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and Sweden. These reviews provided valuable insights into the current measures being taken across the region and highlighted areas where further efforts are required. The potential of new technologies, such as drones, in nature conservation was discussed. Another topic of interest was the issue of discarded munition materials and unexploded ordnances (UXOs) left over from wartime activities, which pose a hidden danger to marine life. Additionally, the discussion focused on the impact of offshore wind farms (OWFs) on harbour porpoises. Although renewable energy development is crucial for tackling climate change, the meeting emphasized that large-scale information gaps remain regarding the cumulative and indirect effects of OWFs on harbour porpoises. The lack of research, participants stressed, should not be interpreted as an absence of impact.

A joint session with the ASCOBANS Jastarnia Group was organised at the end of the meeting, and focused on bycatch, offshore renewable energy, underwater noise, and population assignment of harbour porpoises in North and Baltic Sea using whole genome data. The presentations are available on the meeting page.

The report of the meeting will be available online in due course.

Last updated on 18 December 2024

Type: 
News item
Region: 
North Sea
Species: 
Phocoena phocoena