24 October 2011: A report published by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals under the UN Environment Programme (UNEP/CMS) and compiled by Boris Culik, Kiel University, Germany, highlights the most recent scientific findings on the distribution, migration, behavior and threats to toothed whale species, including sperm whales, beaked whales, porpoises and dolphins.

According to the report, which was supported and funded by ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea Mediterranean Sea and Contigous Atlantic Area), ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas), Greenpeace, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Loro Parque Fundación, Artescienza and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 86% of toothed whale species die from entanglement in gillnets, traps, weirs, purse seines, longlines and trawls. Overfishing of their predominant prey species was also identified as a threat to 13 species in 2011 compared to 11 in 2001. The report highlights that local hunting, deliberate killings or live-captures are a threat, with 50 species affected by such practices, compared to 47 in 2001.

The report also notes that ship strikes impacts 14 species, and habitat degradation due to construction of dams and withdrawal of water from rivers and lakes puts 18 species at risk. The Vaquita, for example, one of the smallest toothed whale species living in the northern Gulf of California, may become extinct by 2013 because of by-catch in fishing nets.

Elizabeth Mrema, UNEP/CMS Executive Secretary, noted that addressing these threats requires international regulation, and that the CMS Scientific Council has proposed a resolution on gillnet fisheries for adoption at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the CMS (COP 10) in November 2011, calling for immediate action to improve fishing practices. A Global Programme of Work for Cetaceans also will be considered for adoption at the COP. [Publication: Whales and Dolphins] [UNEP Press Release]