A Southern Giant Petrel with the carcass of a Northern Rockhopper Penguin Eudyples moseleyi, photograph by Peter Ryan (click here for publication)

Eric Wagner (Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Ecology and Evolution on an observation of Southern Giant Petrels Macronectes giganteus attacking a Magellanic Penguin Spheniscus magellanicus.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) are important consumers that range across the oceans throughout the southern hemisphere.  In Argentina, previous studies have shown they eat primarily pinnipeds and penguins, which they are assumed to scavenge, although there are occasional anecdotes of them attacking living penguins.  Here we describe a predation attempt by a trio of southern giant petrels on a molting adult Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) at the large colony at Punta Tombo, Argentina.  We relate giant petrel attendance patterns at the colony to the penguins' phenology, showing how giant petrel numbers rise with the increasing prevalence of vulnerable penguins.  We suggest that living penguins—both fledglings and adults—may constitute a more seasonally significant proportion of the giant petrel diet than previously assumed, and their capture may represent a specialized predation technique.”

Reference:

Wagner, E.L., Rebstock, G.A. & Boersma, P.D. 2024.  A fearful scourge to the penguin colonies: Southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus) predation on living Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) may be more common than assumed.  Ecology and Evolution. 2024;14:e11258.

17 May 2024

Save Our Marine Life is an environmental advocacy alliance of 27 conservation groups working to protect Australia’s marine life and way of life.  It has recently called for increased protection for the Australia’s Heard and McDonald Islands Marine Park as its 2014-2024 management plan comes up for review.

The alliance writes: “Very soon Australia’s Heard and McDonald Islands Marine Park will be up for review, giving us a once-in-a-decade opportunity to increase protection for this spectacular marine treasure.  The 10-year review of Heard and McDonald Islands marine park management plan is due to be finalised in 2024, providing a window of opportunity to put in place stronger protections.”  The alliance is calling to maximise marine sanctuary protection within the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone around the island group, noting that “despite the unique and rich conservation values of these globally recognised islands, only small sections of the waters surrounding Heard and McDonald Islands are fully protected.  The marine parks established in 2002 and 2014 did an excellent job of identifying some high conservation value areas for marine sanctuary protection, but given subsequent scientific research revealing the depth of their biological value and the impact of climate change they now need updating to maintain their world leading status.”

A view of Heard Island, photograph by Barbara Wienecke

The Australian Marine Conservation Society, a member of the Save Our Marine Life alliance, has published a report that considers the conservation status of the waters surrounding the Heard and McDonald Islands.  The society states that the report finds the island group is “under-protected in the face of encroaching threats from climate change and industrial fishing.

A view of McDonald Island, photograph by Philip Moors

Heard and McDonald Islands, including their territorial waters (0–12 nautical miles), are a World Heritage Natural Site, proclaimed in 1997.

A Black-browed Albatross feeds its chick on Heard Island, photograph by Roger Kirkwood

ACAP Latest News will continue to report on the management plan review, noting that it comes in the year that  ACAP has chosen “Marine Protected Areas - Safeguarding our Oceans” as its theme for the fifth World Albatross Day, to be celebrated on 19 June 2024.

References:

Commonwealth of Australia 2014.  Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014-2024.  Canberra: Department of the Environment.  92 pp.

Constable, A.J., Cresswell, I.D., Bax, N.J. & Reid, K. 2024.  Understanding the Marine Ecosystems surrounding Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) and their Conservation Status.  The Australian Marine Conservation Society.  141 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 16 May 2024

Albatrosses and petrels throng to the net of a trawl vessel; photograph courtesy of Save our Seabirds

Two papers focused on the recent Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Standard Review have been published in the journal Marine Policy.  

Stephanie Good (Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter, UK) and colleagues’, “Adapting the Marine Stewardship Council risk-based framework to estimate impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes”, evaluates the effectiveness of the MSC's semi-quantitative Productivity Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) in assessing risk, particularly for species with limited data availability. By testing existing PSA frameworks and developing new taxa-specific PSAs, the study aims to provide more accurate and precautionary outcomes for these vulnerable taxa. 

Meanwhile, the second paper from Stephanie Good and colleagues, “Updating requirements for Endangered, Threatened and Protected species MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 to operationalise best practices”, addresses the requirements within the MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 concerning Endangered, Threatened, and Protected (ETP) species. Through a comprehensive review process, the paper outlines revised standards aimed at achieving greater consistency in the management of impacts on ETP species and aligning with global best practices. 

The papers’ abstracts follow:

• Adapting the Marine Stewardship Council risk-based framework to estimate impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes

“Information available on impacts of fisheries on target or bycatch species varies greatly, requiring development of risk assessment tools to determine potentially unacceptable levels. Seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes are particularly vulnerable given their extreme life histories, and data are often lacking on their populations or bycatch rates with which to quantify fisheries impacts. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) use a semi-quantitative Productivity Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) that is applicable to all species, target and non-target, to calculate risk of impact and to provide a score for relevant Performance Indicators for fisheries undertaking certification. The most recent MSC Fisheries Standard Review provided an opportunity to test the appropriateness of using this tool and whether it was sufficiently precautionary for seabirds, marine mammals and reptiles . The existing PSA was tested on a range of species and fisheries and reviewed in relation to literature on these species groups. New taxa-specific PSAs were produced and then reviewed by taxa-specific experts and other relevant stakeholders (e.g., assessors, fisheries managers, non-governmental conservation organizations). The conclusions of the Fishery Standard Review process were that the new taxa-specific PSAs were more appropriate than the existing PSA for assessing fisheries risk for seabirds, marine mammals and reptiles, and that, as intended, they resulted in precautionary outcomes. The taxa-specific PSAs provide useful tools for true data-deficient fisheries to assess relative risk of impact. Where some data are available, the MSC could consider developing or adapting other approaches to support robust and relevant risk assessments.” 

• Updating requirements for Endangered, Threatened and Protected species MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 to operationalise best practices

“Bycatch in fisheries is a key threat to non-target marine species, particularly for those species that have life histories with low productivity or poor conservation status. In this paper, the requirements of the new Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard (hereafter “the Standard”) are summarised relevant to Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species. This covers both how species are designated as ETP, and how performance of management is assessed with respect to ETP species, when scoring fisheries against the Standard. The process used to select these requirements is described, including a review of the requirements for earlier versions of the Standard and the scoring of these requirements in assessment reports for a selection of fisheries that have achieved MSC certification. The review identified a lack of consistency in the implementation of scoring guidelines, which was in part due to a lack of clarity in the requirements of the Standard. The revised Standard has been designed to achieve more consistent implementation of the requirements with respect to management of impacts on ETP species, and to align the requirements more closely with global best practice. The requirements may be used as a template for fisheries managers seeking to prioritise bycatch species for improved management and setting more specific and measurable objectives in relation to population status and minimising mortalities.”

References:

Good, S.D., Kate Dewar, K., Burns, P., Sainsbury, K., Phillips, R.A., Wallace, B.P., Fortuna, C., Udyawer, V., Robson, B., Melvin, E.F. and Currey, R.J.C. (2024) Adapting the Marine Stewardship Council risk-based framework to estimate impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes. Marine Policy 163, 106118.

Good, S.D., McLennan, S., Gummery, M., Lent, R., Essingtone, T.E., Wallace, B.P., Phillips, R.A., Peatman, T., Baker, G.B., Reid, K. and Currey, R.J.C. (2024) Updating requirements for Endangered, Threatened and Protected species MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 to operationalise best practices. Marine Policy 163, 106117.

15 May 2024

 The 7th International Albatross and Petrel Conference (IAPC7) will be held next week in the coastal city of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico over 20-26 May 2024.  An agenda and Abstracts of the plenaries and oral presentations are now available on the conference website, revealing a number of papers being offered on ACAP-listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters.  Titles and authors of 18 presentations to be made in a poster session during the evening of the 21st are also available on the IAPC7 website.

Many members of the broader ACAP community are listed as senior or co-authors of oral and poster presentations, including Christine Bogle, ACAP’s Executive Secretary, who will present a plenary on the 23rd with the title “20 years of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels”.  Other ACAP authors of oral presentations include Mike Double (ACAP Advisory Committee Chair), Tatiana Neves (ACAP Advisory Committee Vice-chair), Marco Favero, Patrícia Pereira Serafini and Richard Phillips (convenors, ACAP Population and Conservation Status Working Group) and Igor Debski, Dimas Gianuca and Sebastián Jiménez (convenors, ACAP Seabird Bycatch Group).

Patrícia Serafini is also co-leading a workshop on the afternoon of the 23rd titled “Q&A Session and Wet Lab Training for working with Albatrosses and Petrels during the on-going High Pathogenicity H5N1 Avian Influenza Outbreak” (click here for its description).  The workshop is being supported by the ACAP Secondment Programme.  It is to be a hybrid model, with interested persons not attending the IAPC7 being able to follow the workshop virtually.  Read more about the workshop in ACAP Latest News.
IAPC7 attendees will hear about efforts to create Mexico’s first breeding population of Black-footed Albatrosses Phoebastria nigripes (click here for the abstract)

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 14 May 2024