Despite valiant efforts to eradicate them World-wide, rodents continue to threaten seabirds at their breeding islands, with the House Mice Mus musculus of Gough and Marion Islands that attack albatross and burrowing petrel chicks being significant examples (click here).  New Zealand has been a World leader in successfully eradicating introduced rodents from islands, now to be recognized at a one-day symposium to be held in Auckland this September (click here).

Sooty Albatross chick killed by House Mice on Gough Island, photograph by Paul Visser

“In 2014 New Zealand celebrates 50 years of rodent eradications, following the confirmation of successful eradication of Norway Rats [Rattus norvegicus] from Maria Island in 1964 by the  with assistance from Don Merton, and a grant of 5 pounds from the Wildlife Service.  At that time only 0.5% of New Zealand’s islands were predator-free but today that percentage has increased to 10%, due to the pioneering efforts of staff in the NZ Wildlife Service and then Department of Conservation, supported by volunteers and community groups.  Much has changed in those fifty years, including the landmark use of helicopters to deliver bait aerially, and the knowledge export of rodent eradications to other islands across the globe.

To celebrate these 50 years the Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, University of Auckland and partners are hosting a symposium on rodent eradications to be held 10 September 2014 at the University of Auckland.  The full-day symposium will consist of a series of talks by those involved at the time in pioneering eradications, presenting a retrospective of the eradication operation at the time, the benefits to the island today, and looking forward to the future of island conservation and rodent eradication.  Registration is free and the symposium will be accessible to a general audience.”

Click here to register.

For a brief history of rodent eradications in New Zealand click here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 25 June 2014

UPDATE: Abstracts now available (click here).

An International Conference on Island Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation (Island Biology 2014) will be held at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA over 7-11 July 2014.

A draft programme for the conference is now available from which the following presentations on seabirds along with their senior authors have been extracted.  Other papers will be given on island restoration and on the effects and removal of introduced predators.

Elsa Bonnaud: Unexpected differences of cat predation on close islands: how being efficient to better preserve a vulnerable seabird?  [Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus?]

Karen Courtot:  Scenarios for black-footed albatross colony establishment on the main Hawaiian Islands  [Phoebastria nigripes]

Kazuto Kawakami:  The recent evidence on the distribution of the seriously threatened Bryan’s Shearwater in the Bonin Islands, subtropical Japan (poster)  [Puffinus bryani]

Steve Sawyer:  The establishment of novel surface- and burrow-nesting pelagic seabird colonies in New Zealand and Hawaii using acoustic attraction and predator fencing

David Towns:  Is restoration of seabird islands reconstructing the ambiguous?

Dena Spatz:  Globally threatened seabirds and island conservation opportunities

Eric VanderWerf:  Increase in Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and changes in soil nutrients following construction of a predator-proof fence at Kaena Point, Hawaii  [Puffinus pacificus]

Adam Vorsino:  Combining demographic and geographic models to assess the current and future health of Newell’s Shearwater and Hawaiian Petrel [Puffinus newelli & Pterodroma sandwichensis]

A Black-footed Albatross visits Kaena Point, Oahu, Hawaii

Photograph by Lindsay Young

The conference is intended to “be the first of a regular series of meetings that will be held every four years, on islands around the world, at which island biologists can come together, share insights, and develop collaborations that will accelerate the pace and effectiveness of island research and conservation.”

John Cooper ACAP Information Officer, 08 June 2014, updated 24 June 2014

An ecosystem approach to fisheries management training course has been developed by a group of partner organizations to address capacity development needs.  The Essential EAFM training course will help institutions and their staff prepare and implement improved fisheries management plans and provides the practical skills, tools and resources to do so (click here).

“The ecosystem approach offers a practical and effective means to manage fisheries more holistically.  It represents a move away from fisheries management that focuses on target species, towards systems and decision-making processes that balance environmental, human and social well-being within improved governance frameworks.  However, many fisheries, environment and planning staff lack experience in how to implement the ecosystems approach.”

A complete set of Essential EAFM course materials for both trainers and students is available for use  free of charge from the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem Project at www.boblme.org/eafm.

 Black-browed Albatross, photograph by Genevieve Jones

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 June 2014

The President of the USA, Barack Obama, has this month taken action to establish a Presidential Task Force to combat “Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud” by way of a Presidential Memorandum (click here)

IUU fishing results in the uncontrolled and unmonitored bycatch of ACAP-listed and other species of seabirds in those parts of the World’s oceans where they occur.

The memorandum states:

“The United States is a global leader in sustainable seafood.  Over the course of the last 6 years, the United States has largely ended overfishing in federally managed waters and successfully rebuilt a record number of stocks depleted by the excesses of the past.  At the same time, effective domestic management and enforcement of fishing regulations have supported near record highs in both landings and revenue for our domestic fishing industry.  As a result, the U.S. management scheme is recognized internationally as a model for other countries as they work to end overfishing.

Nevertheless, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing continues to undermine the economic and environmental sustainability of fisheries and fish stocks, both in the United States and around the world.  Global losses attributable to the black market from IUU fishing are estimated to be $10-23 billion annually, weakening profitability for legally caught seafood, fueling illegal trafficking operations, and undermining economic opportunity for legitimate fishermen in the United States and around the world.

It is in the national interest of the United States to promote a framework that supports sustainable fishing practices and combats seafood fraud and the sale of IUU fishing products.  To achieve these objectives, the United States will need to enhance the tools it has available to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud, including by implementing the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing; strengthening coordination and implementation of existing authorities to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud; working with the Congress to strengthen and harmonize the enforcement provisions of U.S. statutes for implementing international fisheries agreements; and working with industry and foreign partners to develop and implement new and existing measures, such as voluntary, or other, traceability programs, that can combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud, and ensure accurate labeling for consumers.”

A trawler trails twin bird-scaring lines, painting by Bruce Pearson

The memorandum establishes a Presidential Task Force on Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud to be co-chaired by the Secretaries of State and Commerce, or their designees.  The Task Force is to report to the President with recommendations for the implementation of a comprehensive framework of integrated programmes to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud within 180 days.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 23 June 2014