National legislation to address the threats to alcids and other wildlife through the emission of transboundary pollutants has existed in some Arctic countries since the 1970s8
Regulating POPs and marine pollution . These have
been complemented more recently by regional protocols and multilateral environmental agreements, which have banned or restricted the use of POPS. However, despite evidence that the “legacy” POPs*
are decreasing or have reached stable
. Regional agreements and instruments to prevent or eliminate pollution in the marine environment also exist. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL, 1973), which aims to eliminate pollution by oil and other harmful substances from ships, is an important agreement for seabirds. In Canada implementation of this agreement has led to increased prosecution of vessels dumping oil in Canadian waters. The Arctic Council’s Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response working group (EPPR) co-ordinates and promotes international cooperation on preventing and dealing with environmental emergencies in the Arctic, such as the release of hazardous materials from ships into the environment.
levels, exposure of Arctic biodiversity to new contaminants is increasing9,22
Under the UN Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), regional fisheries management organizations such as the North Atlantic Fisheries Agreement have a duty to minimize by-catch of non-target species, including seabirds, in their fisheries. A number of voluntary instruments also exist to limit the threat of by-catch from fisheries, including the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries24
Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries25
and the International Plan of Action for .
The breeding sites of alcids and other seabirds are represented in many coastal protected areas in the Arctic26
. All of the
major Alaskan seabird colonies are protected under the Alaska Maritime Refuge27
. In Canada, many important seabird colonies are protected as Migratory Bird Sanctuaries or as
* ”Legacy” POPs refer to persistent organic pollutants covered by agreements such the global Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Chemicals. New emissions from these POPs are either banned or restricted, and any release into the environment is largely a result, or “legacy”, of past practices.
Agreements which have banned or restricted the use of POPs include: • Regional protocol on POPs under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (1998)
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2002) – signed and ratified by all Arctic nations apart from the USA, Russia, and Greenland and the Faroe Islands (as autonomous countries under the Kingdom of Denmark)23
Agreements and instruments to prevent or eliminate pollution in the marine environment exist and include: • Convention for the Protection of Marine Environments of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR, 1998)
• The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL, 1973)
Provincial or Territorial sanctuaries28 . The Nordic countries
, which calls on parties to engage in a wide range of conservation actions to protect migratory bird species, which are dependent on wetlands for at least part of their annual cycle. The Agreement covers several alcids, including the little auk, common and thick-billed murre30
(Norway, Finland, Sweden, & Denmark – with the exception of Greenland) are also party to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement29
.
A major constraint for the effective management and conservation of alcids and other seabirds is the lack of information regarding species’ distribution at sea, population status, and the relative impacts of the threats they face. International advisory bodies such as CAFF work to address these constraints. The Circumpolar Seabird Group, an expert group under CAFF, works to identify gaps, advance knowledge, and develop co-operative research and species actions plans amongst Arctic countries. This group developed the International Murre Conservation Strategy and Action Plan, which addresses the management of common and thick-billed murres across Arctic countries and is considered a success story for cooperative action on Arctic seabird conservation31
. RELEVANCE OF MULTI-LATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS 61 II
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