"Dolphins, Whales and Porpoises: 2002-2010 Conservation Action Plan for the World's Cetaceans," is IUCN's benchmark publication providing information on the status of cetaceans worldwide and recommendations for saving the most threatened species. The report warns that some smaller, lesser-known species such as the baiji (or Yangtze River dolphin) may not survive the next decade.
  > Report executive summary and introduction (PDF format, 66K)
  > Complete report (PDF format, 2MB)
looking for married women   > IUCN press release
  > Reuters story - May 16, 2003

IUCN-World Conservation Union, or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, is an international union of more than 10,000 scientists and experts from government agencies and non-governmental organizations. IUCN's Cetacean Specialist Group has about 75 members worldwide.
  > More information about IUCN-World Conservation Union

U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Report

The Twenty-fifth Session of the U.N. Food and Agriculture (FAO) Committee on Fisheries (COFI) was held in Rome from 24 to 28 February 2003. Delegates from over 100 FAO Members, as well as observers from the U.N., U.N. bodies and specialized agencies, regional fishery bodies, and other international and international non-governmental organizations attended.

At the meeting, many delegates expressed strong support for an "ecosystem approach to fisheries" that takes into account a broad range of issues that impact marine species, including bycatch, climate change, pollution, coastal development and land use issues.

The "Report Of the Twenty-Fifth Session Of The Committee On Fisheries" summarizes discussions that took place at the meeting and includes a section about the ecosystem approach: "Implementation of Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management to Achieve Responsible Fisheries Resources and to Restore Fisheries Resources and the Marine Environment."

Ecosystem-based management of the oceans is likely to succeed where many other initiatives have failed because of its focus on managing human issues and impacts in order to achieve the maintenance of biodiversity.
  > Download the WWF policy paper, "Ecosystem-Based Management for Marine Capture Fisheries" (PDF format)

International Workshop on Reducing Cetacean Bycatch

In January 2002, leading cetacean conservation experts from NGOs, government agencies and academic institutions around the world gathered in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A. for an International Workshop on Reducing Cetacean Bycatch.

Organized by WWF, the workshop resulted in a Call to Action for reducing cetacean bycatch and an international strategy document that was submitted to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission in 2002. The strategy document was modeled after a plan for reducing incidental catch of seabirds that was developed in 1998 by the FAO Committee on Fisheries.

The workshop also resulted in the formation of an international Cetacean Bycatch Task Force and the creation of this Web site, which serves as the virtual headquarters of the Task Force and as a clearinghouse for news, information and scientific papers about bycatch mitigation.
  > Workshop participants list