The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, through the Biodiversity Foundation, has organised an informative meeting to publicise the project “Coordinated strategy for the assessment, monitoring and management of cetaceans in the sub-region of the Bay of Biscay and Iberian coast (CetAMBICion)”, as well as its actions and first advances, to the social agents of the fisheries and conservation sectors with the aim of collecting suggestions and contributions for its execution.
This session was attended by Spanish partners and 50 representatives of organisations linked to the fisheries and conservation sector, such as fisheries administrations, fishermen’s guilds and federations, as well as from the field of port management, NGOs, universities and research centres with special activity in the autonomous communities of Galicia. Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country.
During the meeting, the progress of the first stage of the project’s execution was presented. In particular, the status of implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive with regard to cetaceans is being thoroughly analysed, as well as the available information on the abundance and distribution of this group of species in the sub-region. Work has also begun on a common approach to address the problem of by-catch, through risk analysis, and the study of assessment and monitoring methodologies. Sectoral coordination and participation have also been strengthened and communication tools have been put in place, such as the website and other informational materials.
The collaboration of the fishing sector and related organisations is one of the key elements of this European project to achieve the objective of contributing to estimating and reducing cetacean by-catches in the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian coast.
PROJECT PARTNERS
Until 2023, this initiative, which involves 15 partners from France, Portugal and Spain, will strengthen collaboration and scientific work between the three countries, with the participation of the fisheries sector and NGOs.
The project, which is coordinated by the Institute of Marine Research (IIM-CSIC), involves the Spanish partners of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, through the Biodiversity Foundation and the Directorate-General for Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification and the Coast and the Sea and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the General Secretariat for Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), as well as the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC) and AZTI.
On the French side, the University of La Rochelle, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the French Office for Biodiversity are represented as partners.
Portugal participates through the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Security and Maritime Services; the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere; the Portuguese Institute for Natural Conservation and Forests; the Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Research and the University of the Algarve.
The project is part of the European Commission’s DG ENV/MSFD 2020 (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) call and is also developed in line with the requirements of the Habitats Directive and the Common Fisheries Policy.