ACAP Latest News

Read about recent developments and findings in procellariiform science and conservation relevant to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels in ACAP Latest News.

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Trained detector dogs to search a sub-Antarctic island in the South Atlantic for rodents this summer after a lengthy eradication campaign

Starting next month a monitoring survey will be undertaken on South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* to ascertain if any rodents remain after a five-year eradication project carried out in three phases from 2011 to 2015. Three terrier dogs Will, Wai and Ahu, with their handlers Miriam Ritchie and Jane Tansell from New Zealand, will be deployed to sniff our rats and mice.  "They are hugely experienced in seeking out elusive rodents, having searched sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and many other locations following eradication attempts."

Ahu, rodent detector terrier at work

Transferring poison bait from ship to shore for the rodent eradication project

“International guidelines suggest that at least two years should elapse after baiting before an area can be considered to have been cleared of rodents. As the survey work will begin in November 2017 it will be close to three years since even the most recent bait application, so the results will be robust.  A combination of inert detection devices such as wax tags, stakes and camera traps will be used alongside the sniffer dogs to provide a ‘belt and braces’ approach to detection. Devices are not infallible – they can be washed away or displaced by passing wildlife and some rodents are wary of chewing a stick, even one soaked in peanut oil or another tasty treat. Using dogs in addition to inert devices avoids these limitations and allows a far wider area to be surveyed.”

Read more about this summer's work here.

Click here to read about a recent publication describing the eradication project in detail.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 October 2017

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

Diseases of polar wildlife will be discussed in Switzerland next June

During the SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference (POLAR2018) to be held in Davos, Switzerland over 19-23 June next year there will be a session on Polar Wildlife - Ecology, Health and Disease. The deadline for abstract submissions is 1 November.

The session (BE-8) description follows:

“Although the environments of the Arctic and Antarctic differ profoundly, these regions, and their species, share characteristics that make them vulnerable to anthropogenic change, climate change and invasion of non-native microorganisms. These threats have already altered the ecology, health, susceptibility to disease, and population structure of several Arctic and Antarctic wildlife species. This joint session will focus on sharing information on the threats that face wildlife health and persistence and how to monitor and to prevent future threats.”

The Lead Convenor for Session BE-8 is Andres Barbosa of the Museum of Natural History in Madrid, Spain.

Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross on Prince Edward Island, photograph by Peter Ryan

On Friday 15 June an all-day workshop will be held at the conference venue entitled Arctic and Polar Wildlife – Connecting Ecology, Health and Disease Issues in a Changing World.

Both events have been organized by the Working Group on Wildlife Health Monitoring of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Expert Group of Birds and Marine Mammals (SCAR EG-BAMM).  The expert group will meet in Davos on 16 June with working groups reporting on Trophic Interactions, Health Monitoring, Remote Sensing, Tag and band sightings form, etc.  Progress with the Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking Data project will also be presented (click here).

With thanks to Yan Ropert-Coudert, SCAR EG-BAMM Secretary for information.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 October 2017

Night setting in USA’s demersal longline fishery for Sablefish reduces interactions with Back-footed Albatrosses

Amanda Gladics (Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Newport, USA) and colleagues have published in the journal Fisheries Research on the use of bird-scaring lines and night setting in a North Pacific demersal fishery.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Bird scaring lines (BSLs) protect longline fishing gear from seabird attacks, save bait, reduce incidental seabird mortality and are the most commonly prescribed seabird bycatch mitigation measure worldwide. We collaborated with fishermen to assess the efficacy of applying BSL regulations from the demersal longline sablefish fishery in Alaska to a similar fishery along the U.S West Coast. In contrast to Alaska, some U.S. West Coast vessels use floats along the line to keep hooks off the seafloor, where scavengers degrade the bait and the target catch. Our results confirmed that BSL regulations from Alaska were sufficient to protect baits from bird attacks on longlines without floats, but not baits on longlines with floats. Longlines with floats sank below the reach of albatrosses (2 m depth) at a distance astern (157.7 m ± 44.8 95% CI) that was 2.3 times farther than longlines without floats (68.8 m ± 37.8 95% CI). The floated longline distance was well beyond the protection afforded by BSLs, which is approximately 40 m of aerial extent. Black-footed albatross attacked floated longlines at rates ten times more (2.7 attacks/1000 hooks, 0.48–4.45 95%CI) than longlines without floats (0.20 attacks/1000 hooks, 0.01–0.36 95% CI). Retrospective analysis of NOAA Fisheries Groundfish Observer Program data suggested that seabird bycatch occurs in a few sablefish longline fishing sectors and a minority of vessels, but is not confined to larger vessels. Analysis also confirmed fishermen testimonials that night setting reduced albatross bycatch by an order of magnitude compared to daytime setting, without reducing target catch. Night setting could be an effective albatross bycatch prevention practice if applied to the U.S. West Coast sablefish longline fishery and provide a practical alternative for vessels that elect to use floated longlines. These results highlight the importance of understanding region-specific longline gear modifications to identify effective bycatch reduction tools and the value of working collaboratively with fishermen to craft solutions.”

Read popular articles on the paper here and here.

 

Twin bird-scaring lines keep birds at bay on a USA West Coast longline vessel, photograph by Amanda Gladics

Black-footed Albatross at sea, photograph by Vicki Miller

Reference:

Gladics, A.J., Melvin, E.F., Suryan, R.M., Good, T.P., Jannot, J.E. & Guy, T.J. 2017. Fishery-specific solutions to seabird bycatch in the U.S. West Coast sablefish fishery. Fisheries Research 196: 85-95.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 October 2017

Chile declares two new Marine Protected Areas around the Diego Ramírez and Juan Fernández Islands, homes of Black-browed and Grey-headed Albatrosses and the Pink-footed Shearwater

At the Our Oceans Conference held last week in Malta Chile announced the establishment of two new large marine protected areas  closed to fishing and all other extractive activities.

One of the new reserves protects more than 117 000 km² of ocean around the Diego Ramírez Islands, off South America's Cape Horn.  At 484 000 km², the second new MPA lies around the Juan Fernández Islands in the southern Pacific.

 

Diego Ramírez supports breeding populations of ACAP-listed Black-browed Thalassarche melanophris (Near Threatened) and Grey-headed T. chrysostoma (Endangered) Albatrosses. The Juan Fernández Islands support breeding Pink-footed Shearwaters Ardenna creatopus, an ACAP-listed Chilean endemic with a globally Vulnerable status.

Grey-headed Albatrosses on Diego Ramirez, photograph by Graham Robertson

 

The two new MPAs come after Chile announced a 740 000-km² marine park known as Rapa Nui Rahui that halts industrial fishing, mining and other extractive activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone around Easter Island at the Fourth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (MPAC4) held in Chile last month (click here). Chile had previously declared a large MPA at the 2014 Our Ocean Conference held in its own country (click here). From 2014 to 2017 the three previous Our Ocean Conferences resulted in the designation of 9.9 million square kilometres as new Marine Protected Areas.

Distinguished guests at the conference included Prince Charles and Prince Albert II. The welcoming speech on the first day of the two-day conference was given by European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, who announced developments with an MPA in the Adriatic Sea.

Read more here.

Selected Literature:

Lawton, K., Robertson, G., Kirkwood, R., Valencia, J., Schlatter, R. & Smith, D. 2006. An estimate of population sizes of burrowing seabirds at the Diego Ramirez archipelago, Chile, using distance sampling and burrow-scoping. Polar Biology 29: 229-238.

Robertson, G., Moreno, C.A., Lawton, K., Arata, J., Valencia, J. & Kirkwood, R. 2007. An estimate of the population sizes of Black-browed (Thalassarche melanophrys) and Grey-headed (T. chrysostoma) Albatrosses breeding in the Diego Ramírez Archipelago, Chile. Emu 107: 239-244.

Robertson, G., Wienecke, B., Suazo, C.G., Lawton, K., Arata, J.A. & Moreno, C. 2017. Continued increase in the number of black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) at Diego Ramírez, Chile. Polar Biology 40:1035-1042.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 October 2017

Avian pox virus recorded in Wandering Albatrosses and White-chinned Petrels at Marion Island

Stefan Schoombie (FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa) and colleagues have published in the journal Antarctic Science on the occurrence of avian pox virus in regionally and globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans and regionally and globally Vulnerable White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis at South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Albatrosses are among the most threatened groups of seabirds with the main land-based threats being alien invasive species, human disturbance and habitat degradation. Disease outbreaks in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabird populations are uncommon, but in the past few decades there has been an increase in reported cases. The sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (46°S, 37°E) in the south-western Indian Ocean provide breeding grounds for many seabird species, including 44% of all wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans L.). In 2015, five wandering albatrosses and two penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome Forster and Aptenodytes patagonicus Miller) with pox-like lesions were observed on Marion Island, the larger of the two Prince Edward Islands. Despite intensive study of the wandering albatross population since the 1980s, the only previous records of such lesions are one case in 2006 and another in 2009 in white-chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis L.). Molecular and phylogenetic analysis of tissue samples from two albatross chicks confirmed the presence of avian pox virus (Avipoxvirus). This highlights the need for research into the diseases present on sub-Antarctic islands, for strict controls to limit the risk of accidental introduction of diseases through human activities and the need for effective conservation measures in the event of an outbreak.”

Wandering Albatross with its chick on Marion Island, photograph by John Cooper

Reference:

Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J., Oosthuizen, A., Suleman, E., Jones, M.G.W., Pretorius, L., Dilley, B.J. & Ryan, P.G. 2017. Avian pox in seabirds on Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean. Antarctic Science https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102017000347.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 October 2017

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

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