Complaint against the Government of Sweden for non implementation of Council Directive 92/

S-MAR
Box 6349
S-102 35 Stockholm
SWEDEN

Georges Kremlis
Head of Unit ENV.B.3
Directorate General Environment
European Commission
Rue de la Loi 200
B-1049 Brussels

April 10th 2001

Dear Mr Kremlis

Complaint against the Government of Sweden for non implementation of Council Directive 92/43/EEC with respect to the harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena

You may recall we corresponded with you and Commissioner Wallström last year regarding what we viewed as the failure of certain Member States to meet the obligations placed on them by the Habitats Directive with respect to cetaceans (our letter of May 3rd to Commissioner Wallström and your response of August 22).

We originally thought that your suggestion to await the report on implementation required from Member States under Article 17 was a good one. However, in light of the Habitats Committee decision to postpone the deadline for this reporting until June we feel that it is appropriate that investigations into specific Member States be initiated before that time given: i) the critical nature of some of the problems facing small cetaceans in relation to incidental capture in EU fisheries and, ii) the lack of action by certain Member States, such as Sweden, to effectively address this serious matter.

Having given due consideration to this matter the undersigned non governmental organisations would like to formally register this complaint against the Government of Sweden for failing to meet the obligations it has to protect small cetaceans and in particular the harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena (Annex II and IV listed species) under Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (The Habitats & Species Directive).

Background

The key sections of the Habitats & Species Directive with relation to this complaint are as follows:

Article 2.2 - States that Member States shall take measures to maintain or restore at favourable conservation status, natural habitats and species of wild fauna and flora of Community interest.

Article 12.4 – States that Member States shall establish a system to monitor the incidental capture and killing of the animals species listed in Annex IV (a). In light of the information gathered Member States shall take further research or conservation measures as required to ensure that incidental capture and killing does not have a significant negative impact on the species concerned.

In relation to the situation for harbour porpoises in Sweden, research to date has revealed that:

Harbour porpoises have declined in the Skagerrak, Kattegat and Baltic Seas since the 1960s
(Berggren and Arrhenius 1995a, b)

Harbour porpoise populations in the Skagerrak-Kattegat Seas and the Baltic Sea are distinct
from each other and from other populations in the North Sea (Tiedemann et al. 1996;
Börjesson and Berggren 1997; Wang and Berggren 1997; Berggren et al. 1999a)

Sighting surveys led to estimates of 36 046 (CV=0.34) animals in the Skagerrak, Kattegat
and Great Belt, including both Swedish and Danish waters (Hammond et al. 1995) and only
599 (CV=0.57) in the southern Baltic Sea (excluding a 22 km corridor along Poland's coast)
(ASCOBANS, 1999a).

Using observers in the set net fishery for cod and pollock in the Swedish Skagerrak and
Kattegat Seas in 1997, bycatches were concluded to occur at levels too high to be sustained
by the population, and it is known that additional bycatches, yet to be estimated, occur in ten
other types of fisheries in the same areas (Harwood et al. 1999).

In the Baltic Sea, the situation is even more critical as the porpoise population there is
considered to be extremely depleted and should be addressed as a matter of urgency if the
population is to be saved. Based on records of animals bycaught compared to the available
abundance estimate, bycatches in the Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea are considered to be
unsustainable and if ongoing will likely result in further decline of this depleted population
(Berggren et al. 1999b).

Yet despite this alarming information, no observer programmes have been initiated by
Sweden and as such no observer based estimates of bycatch exist for Swedish fisheries in the
Baltic Sea. What information there is comes from records of animals bycaught in salmon
drift nets and set nets for cod reported and submitted to Swedish Natural History Museums.
These are considered to be an absolute minimum estimate (Berggren 1994).

The CMS Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans in the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS) as well as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) small cetaceans subcommittee have repeatedly stressed the need for monitoring and mitigation of harbour porpoise bycatch in these fisheries, stressing in particular the urgency in the Baltic Sea (ASCOBANS 1997; 2000a; 2001; IWC 1996). The most recent meeting of experts (ASCOBANS 2001) noted that “in terms of assessing the status of Baltic Sea harbour porpoises the ASCOBANS Baltic discussion Group (ABDG) agrees that as a matter of urgency every effort be made to reduce bycatches towards zero as soon as possible.” (ABDG emphasis).

Porpoise bycatch in the Baltic Sea

A clear example of the lack of activity with respect to the critically depleted Baltic Sea population of harbour porpoises follows:

The problem of bycatches of harbour porpoises in Swedish Fisheries in the Baltic Sea was first identified in 1994 (Berggren 1994). In 1997 at their second meeting of Parties, ASCOBANS, to which Sweden is a party, passed a resolution on the incidental take of small cetaceans. The resolution recognised the requirements of Article 12.4 of the Habitats Directive and the need to reduce the incidental take of small cetaceans in the Agreement area.