A report by NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) presented to New Zealand’s Department of Conservation at a meeting of its Conservation Services Programme (CSP) Technical Working Group late last month describes new research conducted on globally Vulnerable and Nationally Critical Salvin’s Albatrosses Thalassarche salvini breeding on the Bounty Islands.

The report’s Executive Summary follows:

“The Department of Conservation commissioned NIWA to complete ground-based surveys of Salvin’s albatrosses (Thalassarche salvini) that breed on the Bounty Islands. This fieldwork involved deploying transmitting Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking devices and geolocation data loggers (Global Location Sensing (GLS) tags) on breeding birds on Proclamation Island, Bounty Islands; banding and recapturing birds in a study area; completing counts of breeding and non-breeding birds along transects at various time of the day; and deploying automated time-lapse cameras that covered part of the study area. This report outlines the activities undertaken, data collected and a description of the methods used.

Landings were made on Proclamation Island, Bounty Islands, on 20, 21 and 22 October 2018. During this time 14 transmitting GPS and 54 GLS data loggers were deployed on breeding birds. In addition, 98 birds (including the birds fitted with GPS and GLS tracking devices) were fitted with a uniquely numbered stainless steel leg band, with 97 of these birds also fitted with a red numeric plastic band to facilitate identification without the need for recapture. A total of 12 transect counts were undertaken to determine the proportion of breeding birds ashore. Finally, six time-lapse cameras were deployed so that they covered about 41 nests in the study area. Retrieval of the GLS devices is planned for November 2019.”

A breeding Salvin's Albatross, photograph by Paul Sagar

The Conservation Services Programme monitors the impact of commercial fishing on protected species, studies species populations and looks at ways to limit bycatch. The programme is funded by levies from commercial fishers.

With thanks to Graham Parker, Parker Conservation.

Reference:

Sagar, P., Charteris, M., Parker, G., Rexer-Huber, K. & Thompson, D. 2018.  Salvin's albatross: Bounty Islands population project ground component.   Wellington: National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd.  18 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 June 2019

A group of environmental NGOs (see illustration) has joined together to start a 100% Observer Coverage petition to reduce seabird bycatch in fisheries managed by tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (tRFMOs).

Supporting partners of the 100% Observer Coverage petition 

 The Statement of Support for the petition follows.

 “In many tuna fisheries around the world, the lack of independent monitoring of fishing activity means there is much we cannot see – including many known conservation and compliance problems such as illegal fishing, misreported or unreported catch, and bycatch of endangered, threatened & protected species.  What we can’t see creates risk to fish stocks, to fisheries, and to companies that purchase tuna.

Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) have the power to reduce these risks by requiring 100% observer coverage – human and/or electronic – on industrial tuna fishing vessels.  100% observer coverage provides the means to mitigate the conservation and compliance issues that put tuna stocks, ocean ecosystems, and tuna supply chains at risk.

100% observer coverage can and must happen soon.  There are no longer credible reasons to delay.  We are committed to working together to make 100% observer coverage a reality. Join us in support of 100% observer coverage requirements across all tuna RFMOs.”

BirdLife International describes the reason for the petition:

“Unless you work in conservation, ‘bycatch’ is probably not a word you hear very often. In fact, it may be something you’ve never heard of before. And yet bycatch - when animals get unintentionally caught and killed in fishing gear - is one of the biggest threats to seabirds in the world.

Collectively, seabirds are one of the most threatened group of birds on the earth. Nearly one third of all species are Globally Threatened with extinction, and nearly half are experiencing population declines.  Bycatch is a big part of these statistics.

Fortunately, there are some very effective measures that mitigate the problem of bycatch. Setting fishing lines at night is one way to ensure that birds like albatrosses and petrels, which feed during the day, don’t get caught on hooks and drowned.  Another is to attach bird scaring or ‘Tori’ lines with bright streamers to vessels to frighten birds away.  Fishers can also attach weights to lines so that they sink quickly, so birds can’t reach the bait.

When used, these methods can result in over a 90% reduction in bycatch.  The problem, though, is that these mitigation methods are not always used.  A recent study using satellites and algorithms to measure whether boats were setting lines at night found that less than 15% did.  The statistic highlighted a persistent problem with mitigation methods: they are only effective when actually put in place.  All too frequently, these methods aren’t being utilized.

That’s why BirdLife International is joining with other leading environmental NGOs to call for 100% independent observer coverage of tuna fisheries.  If Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) require 100% observer coverage - either human and/or electronic - on industrial tuna vessels problems like illegal fishing, misreported or unreported catch, and bycatch of threatened species like albatrosses will all substantially decrease.”

The petition is being run via The Action Network.

Longline fishing hooks found beside globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans nests on Marion Island, photograph by John Cooper

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 June 2019

Lucas Krüger (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Coimbra, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology on the personalities of Cory's Shearwaters Calonectris borealis in relation to foraging and breeding.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Personality is relevant in shaping the way animals respond to environmental conditions. Some personality traits may be disadvantageous under non-optimal environmental conditions, reducing foraging success and breeding performance in the long term.  In this study we tested whether individual personality plays a role in determining shifts in seabirds' foraging behaviour and habitat use when environmental conditions are poor.  We used GPS-tracking information from chick-rearing Cory's Shearwaters (Calonectris borealis) during eight consecutive years.  Boldness was measured by the response of the tracked individuals to a novel object presented at their nest.  Foraging habitat was identified as the environment within geographic points where birds were flying at low speed with high turning rates.  We found that bold individuals displayed more foraging habitat consistency and boldness influenced foraging habitat during years of poor environmental conditions.  Bold individuals tended to remain closer to the colony under poor environmental conditions, while shy individuals dispersed considerably farther from the colony.  However, there was no influence of the personality on breeding success, and the whole population tended to have a lower probability of breeding success during years of poor conditions.  During adverse environmental conditions, shy birds shifted habitat, probably as consequence of exploitative competition with the bold birds, but this has no effect on the birds' ability to successfully raise a chick.”

Cory's Shearwater, photograph by John Graham

Reference:

Krüger, L., Pereira, J.M., Paiva, V.H. & Ramos, J.A. 2019  Personality influences foraging of of a seabird under contrasting environmental conditions.  Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 516: 123-131.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 26 June 2019

Gavin Arneill (School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Ireland) and colleagues have written for the journal Ibis on the use of recording sound to monitor Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Passive acoustic monitoring is increasingly used as a cost‐effective way to study wildlife populations, especially those that are difficult to census using conventional methods.  Burrow‐nesting seabirds are amongst the most threatened birds globally, but they are also one of the most challenging taxa to census, making them prime candidates for research into such automated monitoring platforms.  Passive acoustic monitoring has the potential to determine presence/absence, or quantify burrow‐nesting populations, but its effectiveness remains unclear.  We compared passive acoustic monitoring, tape‐playbacks, and GPS tracking data to investigate the ability of passive acoustic monitoring to capture unbiased estimates of within‐colony variation in nest density for the Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus.  Variation in acoustic activity across twelve study plots on an island colony was examined in relation to burrow density and environmental factors across two years. As predicted fewer calls were recorded when wind speed was high, and on moon‐lit nights, but there was no correlation between acoustic activity and the density of breeding birds within the plots as determined by tape‐playback surveys. Instead, acoustic indices correlated positively with spatial variation in the in‐colony flight activity of breeding individuals detected by GPS. Though passive acoustic monitoring has enormous potential in avian conservation, our results highlight the importance of understanding behaviour when using passive acoustic monitoring to estimate density and distribution.”

Reference:

Arneill, G.E., Critchley, E.J., Wischnewski, S., Jessopp, M.J. & Quinn, J.L. 2019.  Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within‐colony flight rather than nest density.  Ibis doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12740.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 25 June 2019