Fisheries and Marine Mammals

This year, the second United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon ended with the adoption of the Lisbon Declaration, which established the ‘30 by 30’ goal: 30 per cent of the world’s oceans are to be protected by the year 2030. Several countries used the opportunity to announce the creation of marine protected areas. While the event dominated the discourse about marine environmental protection for a large part of the year, it will take until the end of the decade to determine whether the Lisbon Declaration will be a true landmark in the protection of the oceans, or merely a piece of paper inspired by good intentions but not backed up by real action. In the first months following the conference, there was some reason to be optimistic, but it is unclear if the initial momentum can be maintained (or for how long). Against this background, it is easy to overlook other developments that were relevant for the protection of marine mammals or fisheries this year. On the following pages, the reader is provided with a selection of issues that were relevant in the past year.This year, the second United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon ended with the adoption of the Lisbon Declaration, which established the ‘30 by 30’ goal: 30 per cent of the world’s oceans are to be protected by the year 2030. Several countries used the opportunity to announce the creation of marine protected areas. While the event dominated the discourse about marine environmental protection for a large part of the year, it will take until the end of the decade to determine whether the Lisbon Declaration will be a true landmark in theprotection of the oceans, or merely a piece of paper inspired by good intentions but not backed up by real action. In the first months following the conference, there was some reason to be optimistic, but it is unclear if the initial momentum can be maintained (or for how long). Against this background, it is easy to overlook other developments that were relevant for the protection of marine mammals or fisheries this year. On the following pages, the reader is provided with a selection of issues that were relevant in the past year.<br/