Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP Latest News

Read about recent developments and findings in procellariiform science and conservation relevant to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels in ACAP Latest News.

Gonies, Mollies, Peeoos and Ringeyes all get surveyed on Inaccessible Island

Inaccessible Island, one of the United Kingdom’s Tristan da Cunha islands, is part of a World Heritage Site in the South Atlantic. Uninhabited and hard to land on – hence its name – it is rarely visited by marine ornithologists. Supporting four ACAP-listed species and free of introduced mammals it is an important seabird island.

At roughly decadal intervals since 1989, small research teams from the University of Cape Town’s FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, led by its current Director, Peter Ryan, have visited Inaccessible to survey and study its birds, including Tristan (Gony*) Diomedea dabbenena, Atlantic Yellow-nosed (Molly) Thalassarche chlororhynchos and Sooty (Peeoo) Phoebetria fusca Albatrosses and Spectacled Petrels (Ringeye) Procellaria conspicillata.

The most recent survey, the fourth by the FitzPatrick Institute, has recently taken place, with 75 days spent ashore from mid-September to late November. Overall, the island’s seabird populations appear healthy, with increases in some of those surveyed, as summarized below for the ACAP-listed species.

Tristan Albatross

Two chicks of this Critically Endangered species were seen on the island for the first time since 1988, confirming that the island’s tiny relict population of just a handful of pairs continues to survive – in some years no chicks have been recorded.

One of the two Tristan Albatross chicks on Inaccessible Island in summer 2018/19. The main island of Tristan da Cunha towers in the background 31 km away

Atlantic Yellow-nosed and Sooty Albatrosses

Numbers of both of these globally threatened species in monitoring areas were higher than in 2004 or 2009. A total of 22 GPS-loggers was deployed on Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (Endangered) to compare with tracking data from birds tagged on nearby Nightingale Island in the same season by Richard Phillips of the British Antarctic Survey. Twenty of the loggers were recovered before the team left the island, of which 18 were successfully downloaded.

Spectacled Petrel

The Vulnerable Spectacled Petrel population, an Inaccessible Island breeding endemic, continues to increase, with ongoing range extensions recorded in the east of the island. A new count approach using random transects, implemented with assistance from Tristan Conservation Department staff, suggests there may be as many as 30 000 occupied burrows on the island, considerably higher than the last estimate of 15 000 pairs in 2009, continuing the roughly 7% per year growth estimated since the 1930s.

As scientific papers emerge from this year’s surveys of the four ACAP species they will be featured in ACAP Latest News.

The Tristan Administrator, Island Council and Conservation Department gave approval for the Inaccessible Island research visit. Tristan Islanders Leo Glass, Julian Repetto and George Swain gave assistance in the field. The research team included Maëlle Connan (Zoology Department, Nelson Mandela University) and Ben Dilley (FitzPatrick Institute). The South African National Antarctic Programme provided berths on the S.A. Agulhas II and helicopter support.

*Tristan vernacular names in parentheses.

Ringeye survey team on Inaccessible Island’s Cairn Peak; from left to right: George Swain, Julian Repetto & Leo Glass (Tristan Conservation Department) and Ben Dilley (FitzPatrick Institute)

Photographs by Peter Ryan

Selected Literature:

McClelland, G.T.W., Bond, A.L., Sardana, A. & Glass, T. 2016. Rapid population estimate of a surface-nesting seabird on a remote island using a low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle. Marine Ornithology 44: 215-220.

RSPB & Tristan da Cunha Government 2010. Gough and Inaccessible Islands World Heritage Site Management Plan April 2010 – March 2015. [Sandy: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds & Edinburgh, Tristan da Cunha: Government of Tristan da Cunha]. 32 pp.

Ryan, P.G. 2005. Inaccessible Island Seabird Monitoring Manual. RSPB Research Report No.16. Sandy: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 32 pp.

Ryan, P.G. 2007. Field Guide to the Animals and Plants of Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island. Newbury, UK: Pisces Publications. 162 pp.

Ryan, P.G. & Moloney, C.L. 2000. The status of Spectacled Petrels Procellaria conspicillata and other seabirds at Inaccessible Island. Marine Ornithology 28: 93-100.

Ryan, P.G. & Ronconi, R. 2011. Continued increase in numbers of Spectacled Petrels Procellaria conspicillata. Antarctic Science 23: 332-336.

Ryan, P.G., Dorse, C. & Hilton, G.M. 2006. The conservation status of the Spectacled Petrel Procellaria conspicillata. Biological Conservation 131: 575-583.

Peter Ryan, FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town & John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 December 2018

ACAP signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the ACAP Secretariat and the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO), coming into effect on 11 December 2018.

The primary objective of SEAFO is to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of all living marine resources in the South East Atlantic Ocean, and to safeguard the environment and marine ecosystems in which the resources occur. The fisheries organisation currently has seven Contracting Parties, including ACAP Parties Norway and South Africa, as well as the European Union. SEAFO, which entered into force in 2003, has its Secretariat in Swakopmund, Namibia.

The region covered by SEAFO

The objective of the MoU is to facilitate cooperation between SEAFO and ACAP to minimise the incidental by-catch of albatrosses and petrels listed in Annex 1 of ACAP within the SEAFO Convention Area. Areas of cooperation listed in the MoU are:

development of systems for collecting and analysing data, and exchanging information concerning the bycatch of albatrosses and petrels in SEAFO Convention Area;

exchange of information regarding management approaches relevant to the conservation of albatrosses and petrels;

implementation of education and awareness programmes for fishers who operate in areas where albatrosses and petrels may be encountered;

design, testing and implementation of albatross and petrel bycatch mitigation measures relevant to fishing operations in SEAFO Convention Area;

development of training programmes on conservation techniques and measures to mitigate threats affecting albatrosses and petrels; and

exchange of expertise, techniques and knowledge relevant to the conservation of albatrosses and petrels in SEAFO Convention Area and

reciprocal participation with observer status at the relevant meetings of ACAP and SEAFO.

The new MoU, which is set to be in place for six years, joins 11 other MoUs ACAP has signed with Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and other international bodies, most recently with the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA).

The MoU was signed by Christine Bogle, ACAP’s newly appointed Executive Secretary, and Mr Venâncio Gomes, the Chair of the SEAFO Commission.

Anton Wolfaardt, Co-convenor, ACAP Seabird Bycatch Working Group, 19 December 2018

Albatrosses to spy on illegal fishers in the Southern Ocean

News in about a month ago is that French marine ornithologists led by Henri Weimerskirch of the Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) are to attach 60-70-g transceivers this austral summer to up to 250 globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans in the southern Indian Ocean. The devices will be able to pick up and record radar signals emanating from illegal fishing vessels up to five kilometres away, thus establishing their localities.

In an operation known as “Ocean Sentinel” vessel locations will be transmitted via satellite to the French Navy, which will then use the information received to identify vessels fishing in waters off the French sub-Antarctic islands of Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam and attempt to intercept those deemed to be illegal (click here).

‘Vessels fishing illegally generally switch off their automatic identification system (AIS) to avoid being tracked by satellite, but they cannot navigate safely without emitting low-level radar signals which the birds’ transceivers can detect as they fly over the ships. Sailing without radar in the rough waters of the Indian Ocean would be extremely reckless. Radars mean safety, especially for illegal ships that have to detect and avoid naval vessels.”

Wandering Albatross at sea, photograph by John Chardine

Threatened Yelkouan Shearwaters get a boost on Italy’s Tavolara Island, now considered rat free a year after a poison bait drop

The world’s largest breeding population of globally Vulnerable Yelkouan Shearwaters Puffinus yelkouan on Italy’s Tavolara Island is thought to be free of introduced Black Rats Rattus rattus following two helicopter-borne poison bait drops directed at the rats and also at House Mice Mus musculus during October and November 2017 (click here). Ground-based baiting was undertaken in inhabited areas. Tavolara lies within the Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area off the north-east coast of Sardinia, is about 1 x 3 km in size (602 ha) and rises to 565 m. It supports a small human population and attracts tourists.

Yelkouan Shearwater, photograph by Matthew Borg Cardona

Tavolara Island is thought to support of the order of 10 000 (9991 to 13 424) breeding pairs of the Mediterranean-endemic Yelkouan Shearwater, estimated to represent between one thirds and two-thirds of the known world breeding population. A monitoring programme on the island from 2006 to 2011 found that all examined shearwater nests had been depredated by introduced rats, with the only nests remaining safe being located on sheer cliffs inaccessible to rodents (read more here).

“Now that invasive rats have been removed[*] from the island, researchers expect a 5,000-8,000 increase in the number of fledged juveniles each year. This is likely greater than the number of juveniles currently fledged each year by the global population of Yelkouan Shearwaters.

Although Yelkouan Shearwaters were considered to be the main focus of this restoration efforts, the project will also benefit other species that could potentially breed on the island including Mediterranean Storm Petrels Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis and Scopoli’s Shearwaters Calonectris diomedea.”

*One more year is usually required without signs of rodents before Tavolara could be declared definitely free of rats and mice.

Read more here and view a short video. Read an earlier ALN posting on Tavolara and its rats here.

The rodent eradication exercise was carried out with the support of Città di Olbia, Life Puffinus Tavolara, Natura 2000, Ministero Dell’Ambiente E Della Tutela Del Terrirorio E Del Mare, Area Marina Protetta Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo, Nature Environment Management Operators (NEMO), and Island Conservation.

Previously, nearby 340-ha Molara Island within the Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area was cleared of its rats in 2008 leading to improved breeding by Yelkouan Shearwaters, although rats were found on the island again in 2010, perhaps by deliberate introduction (click here).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer 17 December 2018

Tristan da Cunha adopts ACAP's mitigation measures to prevent seabird bycatch over its seamounts

Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic, one of the world’s smallest communities, forms part of a United Kingdom Overseas Territory. The major source of the island group’s income is from fishing, primarily inshore for Tristan Crayfish or Rock Lobster Jasus paulensis within its 12-nautical mile territorial waters. In addition a single vessel, the MFV Edinburgh, currently undertakes demersal longlining, including over seamounts, within Tristan’s 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which covers 750 000 square kilometres. The resource targeted is deep-water Antarctic or Southern Butterfish Hyperoglyphe antarctica (known in Tristan waters as “Bluefish”), a species – under several other common names - that is caught by similar fisheries in Australian and New Zealand waters.

Tristan da Cunha (made up of the main island of Tristan and the outlying islands of Gough, Inaccessible and Nightingale) supports large numbers of breeding seabirds, including six ACAP-listed species, which forage within the EEZ, as well as farther afield. Of these six ACAP species, three albatrosses are considered to be globally threatened: Tristan Diomedea dabbenena (Critically Endangered), Atlantic Yellow-nosed Thalassarche chlororhynchos (Endangered) and Sooty Phoebetria fusca (Endangered). The Spectacled Petrel Procellaria conspicillata, endemic to Inaccessible Island, is Vulnerable, The Grey Petrel P. cinerea is Near Threatened and the Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus is categorized as Least Concern. All these species are at a greater or lesser risk of being caught on longlines and may be seen around the Tristan fishing vessel during line hauling and waste discarding.

In order to prevent bycatch of these ACAP species, as well as of other seabirds, the Tristan Fisheries Department (TFD) in its demersal longline fishery has followed ACAP’s best-practice guidelines, employing the mitigation measures of paired bird-scaring lines, line weighting and night setting. In addition, defrosted bait is used to help hooks sink more quickly, deck lighting is minimised with downward-directed lights during setting, and discarding takes place in batches on the opposite side of the vessel to the hauling bay; all listed as responsible practices by ACAP. Tristan Fishery Officers acting as observers aboard ensure these measures are carried out and also collect information on seabird interactions with the fishing operation.

Downward-directed lights at night on the FMV Edinburgh, photograph by Oli Yates

Shortly before the end of their summer breeding season, Great Shearwaters Ardenna gravis (which breed in huge numbers on the outlying Tristan Islands) have been observed to forage aggressively in ‘frenzies” in order to build up reserves for their trans-equatorial migration. Even with the suite of mitigation measures listed above, the deep-diving ability of the shearwaters means they can still access baited hooks, leading to incidental mortality. Following advice received from the UK’s Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) a seasonal closure of longline fishing in Tristan waters from February to June has now been established to reduce mortality of Great Shearwaters. This seasonal closure should also benefit ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels occurring in Tristan waters.

Great Shearwater