28 October 2015: Harbour seals in the Wadden Sea area of the North Sea, which were once in danger of extinction, are at their highest recorded levels, writes Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary, the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), and Rüdiger Strempel, Common Wadden Sea Secretariat Head, in an op-ed on the occasion of the Wadden Sea Seals Agreement’s (WSSA) 25th anniversary.

The WSSA, an agreement among Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, and its Conservation and Management Plan for the Wadden Sea Seal Population 2012-16 are key factors in the recovery of the seal population, write Chambers and Strempel. The Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of mud flats and intertidal sand in the world and is home to over 10,000 species of animals and plants, including 12 million migratory birds, 40,000 harbour seals and 4,000 grey seals. Approximately 50-60% of the seal populations died following a fatal virus, phocine distemper, in both 1988 and 2002.

The WSSA, which was agreed under the CMS, aims to achieve and maintain a favorable conservation status for the Wadden Sea’s harbor seal population through close cooperation among its three parties. The Conservation and Management Plan for the Wadden Sea Seal Population 2012-16 is a continually updated plan that covers the conservation and management of harbour seals and the breeding stocks of grey seals, which are not covered by the WSSA. The Management Plan addresses habitat protection, pollution, research and monitoring, and public information.

The Wadden Sea is a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site. [CMS Press Release] [Seal Management Plan] [WSSA Website]