Progress report for
ACCOBAMS - Addressing impacts of ocean noise on cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas
Achievement at a glance
ACCOBAMS Scientific Committee still considers ocean noise as one of its highest priority since it represents a major threat to cetacean conservation.\r\nIn this context, the ACCOBAMS Permanent Secretariat and UNEP/MAP - Barcelona Convention strongly collaborate on this issue. In May 2019, some Guidance Factsheets for indicators related to underwater noise were presented by ACCOBAMS. The need for further collaborate on noise was pointed out, in order to gather relevant knowledge, prior to incorporating them into the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme.\r\nMoreover, in the framework of the EU funded QuietMed Project, the ACCOBAMS Permanent Secretariat, in collaboration with specific experts, was contributing to several activities. Main outputs of the QUIETMED project address methodologies and best practices for monitoring impulsive and continuous underwater noise. The project also included the development of a common register for the Mediterranean basin for the monitoring of impulsive noise.(INR‐MED): http://80.73.144.60/CTN_Geoportal/home/. Therefore, the project was conceived to support ACCOBAMS in producing information that will feed regional assessments on underwater noise pollution. This should facilitate the assessment of the status of pressure for D11 in the process relative to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) or the Ecosystem Approach (EcAp) led by Barcelona Convention (for both EU and non-EU Mediterranean Countries). In this context, two workshops were organized in Malta in October 2018 with the aim to increase regional synergies and coordination between EU and non-EU countries.\r\n\r\nFinally, the ACCOBAMS Permanent Secretariat, with the assistance of the ACCOBAMS MMO/PAM Courses Committee, finalized the standard high-level course material. This material was provided to the three-current accredited ACCOBAMS highly qualified MMOs/PAM operator trainer organizations, that will be responsible for running the training in the ACCOBAMS Area. The first ACCOBAMS training for High Quality MMO/PAM Operator has been carried out in Constanta, Romania (12 - 16 September 2018).\r\nChallenges faced in implementation
A review of the first cycle of implementation of the MSFD has confirmed disparities among EU Member States approaches in GES definition. This disparity was on the one hand due to the wide scope of definitions which extend from pressure based to risk‐based and response‐based definitions. It was also due on the other hand to the lack of scientific knowledge which has lead Member states to stick to the pressure indicators even for more elaborate definitions, which generally makes quite unrealistic to proof the achievement of the GES at risk or response level. To overcome this disparity, it was proposed to find the trade-off in the definition of a risk-based GES. This appears fully coherent with the new Commission Decision in that the establishment of threshold values proposed therein could reflect the potential risks to the marine environment.\r\n\r\nMoreover, in order to avoid disparities between EU and non-EU Countries, ACCOBAMS promoted inter-regional cooperation for noise registers. In this context, the INR-MED was developed in line with Commission Decision 2017/848 and following guidance documents from TG-Noise. The conception was based on the first demonstration tool developed by ACCOBAMS in 2016 for the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea and took advantage of the work done by OSPAR, HELCOM and ICES on the same topic.\r\nBeneficiaries
The objective of ACCOBAMS in addressing impacts of ocean noise on cetaceans is:\r\n to improve knowledge on noise and improve use of the ACCOBAMS joint register for impulsive noise among Competent Authorities for noise pressure data collection in the Mediterranean Marine Region.\r\n to enhance collaboration with between EU and non-EU Countries in order to increase regional synergies and coordination.\r\n to guarantee, throughout the Agreement area, a high-quality standardized training of MMOs/PAM\r\n