HC Deb 23 November 1999 vol 339 cc65-6W
Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the decisions reached at the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Bonn Convention on 10 to 16 November in respect of sensitive species, with particular reference to dolphins, turtles and albatross. [99590]

Mr. Mullin

The key issues included agreement on the Convention's Strategic Plan for 2000–05 and the adoption of a budget for 2001–02. The Budget sets aside funds to enhance the work of the Convention's Scientific Council and for specific scientific projects which will help protect some of the most endangered and threatened migratory species.

I am delighted to say that the Conference adopted a Resolution, submitted by the United Kingdom, addressing the problem of by-catch of migratory species, particularly from longline fishing. The Resolution requires all Parties, as a matter of gravity, to strengthen the measures to minimise the incidental mortality of migratory species in fisheries under their control. The Resolution specifically refers to the threats which turtles, seabirds and dolphins face from fisheries by-catch. As well as action by sovereign states, the Resolution also seeks co-operation with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to protect these endangered species.

The United Kingdom also announced our intention to sign and ratify the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area on behalf of Gibraltar.

The Conference also agreed, with UK and EU support, a number of initiatives on the protection and conservation of the houbara and great bustards, marine turtles in the Atlantic Coast of Africa and the Indian Ocean, Sahelo-saharan antelopes and elephants in Central and West Africa. A Resolution was also adopted supporting the development and conclusion, as soon as possible, of an Agreement for the conservation of Southern Hemisphere albatrosses, which face several threats, including pollution, disease and the effects of climate change, as well as by-catch.