Marine protected areas for whales, dolphins, and porpoises: a world ...

Habitat Protection for Cetaceans around the World 109
BOX 5.2 THE VIEW ON MPAS INICELAND
Iceland is an active member of the OSPAR Convention (Oslo and Paris Convention
for the Protection of the Marine Environment in the Northeast Atlantic) (Nijkamp and
Bijvoet, 1996). According to the wider OSPAR definition of marine protected areas
(any maritime area under management which results in some level of protection for
at least a part of the ecosystem), Iceland has some 39 ‘marine protected areas’,
half of which regulate fisheries, including 11 relatively large areas and 16 offshore
areas. These areas are closed year-round or seasonally or have restricted access
for fisheries management purposes. Iceland is the only OSPAR partner having such
large offshore areas controlled in this manner. Most closures are aimed at restricting
demersal and pelagic trawling and Danish seine netting, but, according to Sigmar
Arnar Steingrímsson, who has attended the OSPAR meetings representing Iceland’s
Marine Research Institute, these ‘might benefit cetaceans’. But colleague Gisli
Vikingsson, who has focused on whale studies for some years, notes that any move
to protect cetaceans would require surveys to determine habitat. ‘If [any] such areas
should be chosen on the grounds that they are important habitat to cetaceans it
would require some systematic evaluation based on the available knowledge on
distribution and abundance of the different species. I am not aware of any such
process going on’ (Vikingsson, pers comm, 2003).
There is little doubt that the outer area of Breidafjördur and Skjalfandi Bay,
possibly extending west to cover parts of Eyjafjördur, among other areas around
Iceland, would be celebrated in many other countries as national and international
treasures because of their resident whale populations, and made into protected
areas or parks or biosphere reserves. Iceland has not shown the political will to
designate protected habitat for cetaceans through such MPAs, although there is
discussion about this possibility in the future among local and international
conservation groups, tourism officials and some researchers. Officially, however,
there is no talk of making MPAs for cetaceans. And with Iceland resuming whaling
activities in August 2003, taking minke whales near some of these areas, the
possibility for protecting cetacean habitat seems ever more remote.
activities, including impacts from shipping, offshore oil and gas and the
efficacy of existing international agreements related to protection of the
marine environment;
• Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) identifies and
assesses problems;
• Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) works on habitat
protection and biodiversity;
• Emergency, Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) focuses on
pollution prevention and control; and
• Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG), the newest working
group, is looking into sustainable development and environmental
protection.
PAME and CAFF are the two working mostly on conservation aspects of the
marine environment. The European part of the region (Norway and Iceland)
also comes under the OSPAR Convention which has a programme of MPA