Wisdom, the Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis who is the world’s oldest known wild bird, has returned once more to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the USA’s North Western Hawaiian Islands for the 2018/19 breeding season.  She was first seen on the atoll’s Sand Island on 29 November, subsequently laying an egg which was seen to be hatching on 27 January.

Wisdom (Red Z333) and her colour-banded mate Akeakamai ("Love of Wisdom") have been returning to the same nest site on Midway Atoll each year since at least 2016.  Wisdom was first banded as an adult on Midway in 1956, and is considered to be at least 68 years old, factoring in the age of maturity for the species (click here).

Akeakamai (Red G000) has been photographed recently standing over a small downy chick, so Wisdom’s long breeding record continues.

Wisdom with her 2018/19 egg in October 2018

Wisdom over her hatching egg, January 2019

Wisdom's mate, Akeakamai and their 2019 chick

Watch a video clip here.

Photographs by Robert Peyton and Madalyn Riley, USFWS and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 19 February 2019

Although the United States of America as a Range State has attended and contributed to meetings of ACAP regularly since the Agreement’s signing in 2001, up to now it has not joined the 13 member countries that have signed as a Party.  ACAP Latest News has previously reported on intermittent progress towards signature by the USA from 2008 (click here) and can now report on a new bipartisan initiative being led by two Congressmen, Alan Lowenthal (who previously introduced a bill to the US Congress for an enabling “Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act’’ in 2016) and Brian Fitzpatrick of the United States House of Representatives.

Congressman Alan Loewenthal

 Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick

The press release made in Washington, D.C. on 14 February follows in full:

“Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) today, joining with Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and nine House colleagues, introduced legislation to protect imperiled seabirds from international fishing threats while increasing ongoing seabird conservation efforts in the United States and abroad.

The Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act would implement the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), an international conservation agreement that has been signed by 13 member countries since 2001 and covers 31 species of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters. Despite previous calls by President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama to ratify the agreement, the Senate has yet to act.

“This is an opportunity for the United States to resume its leadership role in international conservation efforts,” Congressman Lowenthal said. “It is critical that we implement the ACAP, and in doing so encourage other nations to adopt strong conservation standards and take steps to ensure that foreign fishing vessels follow international conservation measures that protect endangered seabirds.”

Many albatross and petrel species are listed among the most threatened seabirds in the world because of habitat loss and fisheries bycatch (unwanted fish and other marine creatures caught during commercial fishing for a different species), but the U.S. has been a leader in reducing fisheries bycatch.

“Serving as good stewards of our environment and working to ensure endangered species can be protected and repopulated is something each of us are called to regardless of location, background or political ideology,” Congressman Fitzpatrick said. “This bill will help reduce habitat destruction, minimize marine debris, and slow the spread of invasive species. I’m proud to stand with my colleagues in support of this bipartisan legislation and urge others to join us in the defense of endangered species.”

The Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act ties together existing U.S. laws and statutes without substantially changing current laws in order to implement the international agreement.

The legislation would also authorize the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to implement fisheries conservation measures, increase international fisheries enforcement, restore habitat, reduce non-native species, develop educational programs, and cooperate internationally on conservation efforts.

“This legislation could save the lives of untold numbers of these spectacular, storied birds,” National Audubon Society’s Senior Vice President of Conservation Policy Sarah Greenberger said. “It will allow the U.S to join, and thereby strengthen, the international treaty that protects seabirds that know no political boundaries. It would move more countries towards abiding by shared commonsense fishing safeguards, and create a level playing field for our responsible U.S. fishers. This bipartisan legislation is good for birds and good for people, and Audubon will work with members on both sides of the aisle to get this urgently needed legislation across the finish line.”

Steve Holmer, Vice President of Policy for American Bird Conservancy, said, “Our membership in this international agreement will encourage best practices to reduce accidental take of albatrosses and petrels by other nations that often supply fish to American consumers. This will ensure environmental compliance for all fisheries, as well as reassurance for American consumers who are concerned about the sustainability of the fish they are purchasing."

Original co-sponsors of the bill include Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Matt Cartwright (PA-08), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), John Garamendi (CA-03), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Ted Lieu (CA-33), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), and Adam B. Schiff (CA-28).”

Click here to read the full text of the bill “To implement the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, and for other purposes.”

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 February 2019

UPDATE:  17 February 2019

No stoats found, search "winding down" but "regular monitoring of traps, tracking tunnels [and] cameras will be necessary".  Read more here.

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The presence of alien Stoats Mustela ermine has been reported earlier this month on Great Barrier Island/Aotea off Auckland at the edge of the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand.  The island, hitherto Stoat free (although there are both feral and domestic cats Felis catus, as well as feral pigs Sus scrofa and two rat species present) is one of only two that support breeding populations of the ACAP-listed Black Petrel Procellaria  parkinsoni (categorized both globally and nationally Vulnerable). The other is the nearby and predator-free Little Barrier Island/Hauturu, which supports smaller numbers of breeding Black Petrels.

Black Petrel on Great Barrier Island, photograph by the New Zealand Department of Conservation

“Conservationists believe at least two of the highly-destructive pests may have found their way to the previously stoat-free island.  Two specialist stoat-sniffing dogs are forming part of a large-scale operation by the Auckland Council and the Department of Conservation (DOC) to find the creatures.  If confirmed, the stoats were likely stowaways on a boat. Because of where the island is in distance from the mainland, really the only way that a stoat will get there is, in a way, human assisted.  A member of the public said they saw the stoats at Medlands Beach [some 12 km from the breeding Black Petrels around the summit of Mount Hobson] on 3 January and reported them the following day.

DOC and the Auckland Council have set up a network of trail cameras, tracking tunnels and traps which, along with the dogs, will try to confirm and eradicate any stoats.”

Woody, the Department of Conservation's Stoat-hunting dog, who has been deployed to Great Barrier Island, photograph by the Auckland Council

Read more here and here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 January 2019

UPDATE:  Read a popular article on the publication here.

Ed Melvin (Washington Sea Grant, Seattle, Washington, USA) and colleagues have published in the journal Conservation Biology on reductions in seabird bycatch in longline fisheries in Alaska

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Although bycatch of seabirds and other long‐lived species is a critical conservation issue in world fisheries, case studies documenting significant reductions in the mortality of these low‐productivity species in a fishery are rare. We studied progress toward seabird conservation in the Alaskan longline fisheries, one of the largest and most diverse demersal fisheries. We generated annual seabird bycatch rates in 4 target fisheries and all fisheries combined from 23 years of fisheries observer data. We used 0‐inflated negative binomial models to evaluate variables influencing seabird bycatch per unit effort (BPUE) in 2 target fisheries. Following adoption of streamer lines, at first voluntarily and then mandatorily, seabird BPUE was reduced by 77‐ 90%, preventing mortality of thousands of birds per year. Despite this, BPUE increased significantly in 2 of 4 target fisheries since streamer lines were adopted. Although night setting yielded significant reductions (74‐97%) in seabird BPUE and significant increases (7‐11%) in fish catch per unit effort over daytime setting, nighttime setting increased the BPUE of Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) by 40% and nontarget fish species by 5–17%. Thus, best practices to prevent seabird mortalities in longline fisheries varied by species assemblage and fishery. Our results inform global efforts toward fisheries bycatch reduction by illustrating that successful conservation requires fishery‐specific solutions, strong industry support, constant vigilance in analysis and reporting observer data, and ongoing outreach to fleets, especially to vessels with anomalously high BPUE.”

Bird-scaring lines deployed behind Alaskan longliners, photographs by Amanda Gladics & Ed Melvin

See also here.

Reference:

Melvin, E.F., Dietrich, K.S., Suryan, R.M. & Fitzgerald, S.M. 2019.  Lessons from seabird conservation in Alaskan longline fisheries.  Conservation Biology doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13288.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 February 2019, updated 21 February 20219