HELSINKI COMMISSION

Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission

     
     
HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 17/2

PROTECTION OF HARBOUR PORPOISE IN THE BALTIC SEA AREA

     
     
Adopted 12 March 1996
having regard to Article 13, Paragraph b)
of the Helsinki Convention

THE COMMISSION,

DEEPLY CONCERNED about the population status of harbour porpoise in the Baltic Sea and AWARE that individual numbers have drastically decreased,

RECOGNIZING the relevance of the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS), the action list and relevant recommendations by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) and the resolutions of International Whaling Commission (IWC) and European Cetacean Society (ECS),

RECOGNIZING that harbour porpoise is and should remain an integral part of the marine ecosystems,

RECOGNIZING FURTHER that by-catches, habitat deterioration and disturbance adversely affects this species,