- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 28 September 1993 (47th Sitting) (see Doc. 6898, report of the Committee on Agriculture, Rapporteurs: Mr Bühler and Mr Gunnarsson). Text adopted by the Assembly on 28 September 1993 (47th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
1. The Assembly recalls its Resolutions 929 (1989) on the future of whaling and 972 (1991) on the future of ocean fisheries.
2. It is of the opinion that sustainable management policies for the multiple uses of ocean resources, including marine mammals, should be based on detailed knowledge and understanding of the marine ecosystems concerned.
3. It recognises the responsibility of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for the conservation and management of whale stocks and the regulation of whaling, pursuant to the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, and it appreciates the work done by the IWC's Scientific Committee. The Assembly has duly taken note of the findings of
the 45th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (Kyoto, Japan, 10-14 May 1993).
4. The Assembly welcomes the protection of small cetaceans in the Baltic and the North Sea, agreed upon under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention), and likewise welcomes the initiative taken recently to achieve a similar agreement on the conservation of small cetaceans in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The Assembly also stresses the importance of the protection of marine mammals under the Council of Europe Convention for the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention), the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution (Barcelona Convention) and the 1992 Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic.
5. Against this background, the Assembly calls on the governments of the Council of Europe member states, other governments concerned and the European Community:
5.1 to develop and/or improve global and regional legal regimes for the protection and sustained management of all species of marine mammals (larger whales and smaller cetaceans, walruses and seals);
5.2 to considerably increase their research programmes with a view to improving the knowledge and understanding of marine ecosystems and their vital function for the global environment and life on earth;
5.3 to make sure that marine mammals are given adequate attention in such research programmes;
5.4 to require that nations giving licences to hunt marine mammals must also make sure that hunting methods meet standards of humane killing or meet them as close as possible. Research and development should facilitate that this objective be reached;
5.5 to ensure that adequate control mechanisms are provided for in the protection and exploitation agreements to prevent misbehaviour and violations.
6. Furthermore, the Assembly calls on the governments of Council of Europe member states and the European Community to set up a European marine agency (EMA) for the carrying out and co-ordination of research into marine ecosystems, the formulation of conservation and
exploitation policies as well as the dissemination of information and knowledge.
