Printed in the United Kingdom Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (2007) doi: 10.1017/S0025315407056810 Twenty years of marine mammal research in Europe

April, with the theme of ‘Marine mammals and man in coastal ecosystems: can they co-exist? ’ Many of the papers contained in this volume describe work that was presented at this conference, and most relate to research carried out by ECS members. In the mid-1980s, a small group of researchers met to discuss their concerns for the status of the harbour porpoise in Europe. This species appeared to be declining in several regions for reasons that were unclear (Kayes, 1985; Kroger, 1986; Evans et al., 1986; Smeenk, 1987; Evans, 1990, 1992). As the most widely distributed cetacean species in the coastal zone of northern Europe, porpoises faced a wide range of pressures—habitat modification, pollution, disturbance, and conflicts with fisheries through over-exploitation of their prey and accidental capture in fishin