ASCOBANS

ASCOBANS is the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas, a regional daughter agreement under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS/Bonn Convention). Concluded on 17 March 1992 as the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas, it entered into force in 1994; a 2008 extension widened the area and renamed it. It covers all toothed whales (Odontoceti) in the area except the sperm whale, with the harbour porpoise the focal species. Parties address bycatch reduction, habitat protection, and disturbance from shipping and noise.