Hookpod creators, Ben and Pete Kibel

British brothers Ben and Pete Kibel, an engineer and a fisheries biologist respectively, are the creators of Hookpod, a reusable and low-cost device that prevents the deaths of seabirds during longline fishing.  The Hookpod encapsulates baited hooks until they sink to a depth inaccessible to seabirds.  It has been recommended by ACAP as a best-practice mitigation measure.

“The Hookpod is a clear, polycarbonate capsule that is clipped over the points and barbs of longline fishing hooks. On the surface, this prevents scavenging seabirds from getting caught on the hooks by physically blocking their access to them. The core of the device is a pressure-operated mechanism that consists of a watertight tube containing a piston and a small quantity of trapped air. Once the encapsulated hook sinks to 20 metres below the surface – out of range for most seabirds – the force generated by the water pressure on the end of the piston becomes greater than the force acting in the opposite direction, driving the piston inwards. The piston continues to move until it releases a latch, which opens the device and releases the baited hook.  When the fishing session is complete, fishermen can clip the Hookpod shut for subsequent use.”

An introduction to the Hookpod; produced by When It Rains Creative

The Kibel brothers have now been named finalists – along with five others - in the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) category of the European Inventor Award 2021, which will take place digitally on 17 June 2021 (during 'WADWEEK2021').   The award is administered by the European Patent Office (EPO).  EPO President António Campino says “the Kibel brothers have combined ingenuity with their commitment to the environment to develop a solution that protects vulnerable marine life.”

Read more here and here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 May 2021

Hawaiian Petrel with a broken wing under care, possibly from a powerline collision; photograph by the Hawaii Wildlife Center

Marc Travers (Archipelago Research and Conservation, Kauai, Hawaii, USA) and colleagues have published in the open-access electronic journal Avian Conservation and Ecology on powerline collisions by Hawaiian Petrels Pterodroma sandwichensis (globally Endangered) and Newell's Shearwaters Puffinus newelli (globally Critically Endangered).

The paper’s abstract follows:

Powerline collisions have been identified on Kaua'i as a potential contributing factor to the large-scale decline of both Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis) and Newell's Shearwater (Puffinus newelli), but the scale of the powerline collision problem is unknown. From 2012 to 2020 we conducted observations for seabird powerline collisions across Kaua'i, documented grounded seabirds, and assessed crippling and environmental biases - both poorly studied facets of powerline collision research. We directly observed 121 powerline collisions and detected 89 grounded seabirds. While some collisions resulted in birds falling lifelessly out of the sky, most resulted in seabirds flying or gliding outside of the search area. This means that traditional ground searches would underestimate total collisions by 78-88% if not accounting for crippling bias. We tested environmental bias by comparing our ability to conduct searches for grounded birds, "searchability", across multiple variables. Environmental bias resulted in significant reductions in searchability across regions, environment types, and powerline heights. Furthermore, observed collision rates were significantly higher at powerlines that had very low to zero searchability. Forty-three percent of observed collisions occurred at unsearchable powerlines (mainly spanning steep valleys), equating to an estimated 3170 seabird collisions that could not be detected through ground searches. We detected powerline collisions in every region of Kaua'i, in every environment type, and at all powerline heights monitored. Our results show that crippling bias and environmental bias are the mechanisms that concealed the geographic distribution of collisions and the scale of the powerline problem from grounded bird searches, ultimately preventing the detection of thousands of collisions. The data collected for this study are critical for assessing the scale of seabird powerline collisions and quantifying the biases inherent in traditional ground searches.”.

Reference:

Travers, M.S., Driskill, S., Stemen, A., Geelhoed, T., Golden, D., Koike, S., Shipley, A.A., Moon, H., Anderson, T., Bache, M. & Raine, A.F. 2021.  Post-collision impacts, crippling bias, and environmental bias in a study of Newell's Shearwater and Hawaiian Petrel powerline collisions.  Avian Conservation and Ecology  16(1):15. doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01841-160115.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 May 2021

The Looming-Eyes Buoy deters seaducks, photograph by Andres Kalamees

Yann Rouxel (BirdLife International Marine Programme, c/o the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, Glasgow, UK) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Royal Society Open Access on developing a novel deterrent for seabirds in gill-net fisheries.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Bycatch of seabirds in gillnet fisheries is a global conservation issue with an estimated 400 000 seabirds killed each year. To date, no underwater deterrents trialled have consistently reduced seabird bycatch across operational fisheries. Using a combination of insights from land-based strategies, seabirds' diving behaviours and their cognitive abilities, we developed a floating device exploring the effect of large eyespots and looming movement to prevent vulnerable seabirds from diving into gillnets. Here, we tested whether this novel above-water device called ‘Looming eyes buoy' (LEB) would consistently deter vulnerable seaducks from a focal area. We counted the number of birds present in areas with and without LEBs in a controlled experimental setting. We show that long-tailed duck Clangula hyemalis abundance declined by approximately 20–30% within a 50 m radius of the LEB and that the presence of LEBs was the most important variable explaining this decline. We found no evidence for a memory effect on long-tailed ducks but found some habituation to the LEB within the time frame of the project (62 days). While further research is needed, our preliminary trials indicate that above-water visual devices could potentially contribute to reduce seabird bycatch if appropriately deployed in coordination with other management measures.”

Read popular counts here and here.

Reference:

Rouxel, Y., Crawford, R., Cleasby, I.R., Kibel, P., Owen, E., Volke, V., Schnell, A.K. & Oppel, S. 2021.  Buoys with looming eyes deter seaducks and could potentially reduce seabird bycatch in gillnets.  Royal Society Open Access  doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210225.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 May 2021

"Southern Ocean Wanderer" by Brett Jarrett

A.M. Heswall (School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, New Zealand) and colleagues report in the journal Marine Biology on a study attempting to correlate seabird size with bycatch.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Many animals have sensory biases towards signals or cues that typically provide some fitness benefit. Sensory traps occur when other species or anthropogenic sources produce similar signals or cues but responding is no longer adaptive and can impose significant costs or even death. Bycatch of seabirds by fishing boats has devastating impacts, causing hundreds of thousands of seabird deaths per annum. Here, we explore whether fishing vessels are acting as a sensory trap, inadvertently targeting seabirds with certain life-history traits or larger skeletal or sensory structures. We surveyed the literature to compare seabird order, diet, wingspan, body size, and nesting preference (surface or burrow) of 70 seabirds with varying numbers of reported bycatch in one of the world’s most important regions for seabird breeding, in northern Aotearoa New Zealand. We also examined the skeletal and sensory measurements of six seabirds that co-occur spatially in this region, but have different numbers of reported bycatch and indices of bycatch risk. The literature survey revealed that the Charadriiformes and the Sphenisciformes were the most vulnerable groups (p = 0.01), especially to surface longline fisheries.  There were no correlations with diet and foraging behaviour, but surface nesting seabirds and those with larger bodies and wingspans were at a greater risk of becoming bycatch. Skeletal measurements show that species with higher bycatch also have relatively larger skulls, bills and wings, eye sockets and nostrils (relative to body size) (p < 0.05). This suggests that having a larger overall body size and longer protruding body parts is a primary risk factor, but that species with relatively more sensitive sensory systems likely have even more acute bycatch risk. Considering fishing vessels as sensory traps provides a context to explore the multiple interconnecting factors of sensory sensitivity, sensory bias, behaviour and morphology.”

With thanks to Janine Dunlop, Niven Librarian, FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town.

Reference:

Heswall, A.M., Friesen, M.R., Brunton Martin, A.L. & Gaskett, A.C. 2021.  Seabird bycatch risk correlates with body size, and relatively larger skulls, bills, wings and sensory structures.  Marine Biology doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03873-4.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 May 2021