Page 58 - restitution_book_MOW2023_EN

56 | INNOVATIONS

FOLLOW-UP 3.0
NETCCOBAMS.

A collaborative

management tool

ACCOBAMS presents this innovative digital tool to support the

conservation of cetaceans in the Mediterranean and Black Seas,
particularly targeting the risks of boat collisions.

At the start of the meeting, held in the Hirondelle SUPPORT FOR THE CREATION
Room of the Oceanographic Museum on 23 March OF A PARTICULAR SENSITIVE
2023, Susana Salvador, Executive Secretary of the SEA AREA (PSSA)
Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of
the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Discussions also focused on the proposal to create
Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), discussed the current a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) in the nor-
challenges facing this cooperative legal instrument th-western Mediterranean, submitted to the Inter-
for biodiversity conservation. national Maritime Organisation in September 2022
by four of the twenty-four countries covered by the
Agreement (Spain, France, Monaco, and Italy). From
THE Spanish waters to the Pelagos sanctuary, the aim is to
CONTEXT reduce the risk of collisions between cetaceans and
boats in this specific area, a risk that is three times
“Maritime transport in the Mediterranean higher than in other parts of the Mediterranean Sea.
basin is set to increase in the coming years, in Due to their high concentration and the intensity of
both the number of routes and their density, maritime traffic (commercial and recreational routes),
particularly in connection with the future fin whales and sperm whales in the Mediterranean,
doubling of the Suez Canal”. are particularly affected.
(Source: Protecting large cetaceans from the risk of collision
with vessels in the Mediterranean, preparatory study by the
Ministry of Ecological Transition and Cerema, 2021)