The
creation of MEDACES aimed at centralising the information of cetacean
strandings on the Mediterranean coast. This initiative requires
the co-ordination among the national stranding networks of the riparian
countries to standardise data collection. The current situation
of cetacean stranding monitoring vanes greatly among Mediterranean
countries. Some of them have national cetacean stranding networks
and keep databases encompassing either all or part of the coast.
The national stranding networks of many of these countries involve
governmental bodies and have been in operation for the last 10 years.
National, regional or local departments of the environment or fisheries,
as well as public and private research institutions (universities,
marine institutes, etc) and NGO’s are involved in such networks.
By contrast, the degree of coverage in other countries is either
inexistent or episodic (RAC/SPA 1998).
This
situation obliges to devise two levels for data collection: one
of basic information not requiring complex infrastructure and another
of advanced information requiring specialised staff and more sophisticated
infrastructure. These levels have been defined by a Scientific Committee
formed by experts of the Mediterranean countries appointed by the
Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas. Moreover,
Geraci and Lounsbury (1993) work and additional information from
stranding networks of Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries
(see About MEDACES/Collaborators)
have been followed.
The
contributions to MEDACES would be sent annually, either by the national
co-ordination centres or by individual institutions of the countries
involved. MEDACES would also incorporate already-published information
in scientific journals or technical reports. Therefore, MEDACES
would also include a catalogue of publications on Mediterranean
cetacean strandings (see Documents/Papers
on strandings). The contributing bodies would agree
beforehand on the rules governing the use and intellectual property
of the database information following the deontological code (see
About MEDACES/Deontological
code). |