The Antarctic Wildlife Research Fund, which facilitates and promotes research on the Antarctic ecosystem, has made a call for research proposals that will lead to helping  the Southern Ocean fishery for Antarctic Krill Euphasia superba to be managed in a sustainable manner.  A description of one of the proposed studies entitled “The role of flying birds in the krill centric food web” follows:

“Spatial management of krill fisheries by CCAMLR has, to date, largely considered the demands of diving predators, including penguins. Information on the level of krill consumption by flying seabirds, and the potential competition with krill fisheries, have long been recognised as major data gaps by CCAMLR. Tracking and at-sea survey data indicate that in some areas of operation, krill fishing vessels overlap with the preferred foraging localities of flying seabirds. Even in situations of limited spatial overlap, there may be a competitive and therefore functional overlap, as flying seabirds may rely on krill advected from areas where fisheries operate. Improved analyses of both spatial and functional overlap of flying seabirds with krill fisheries and areas of high densities would therefore be informative, particularly as fishing vessels access krill at much deeper depths than flying seabirds, and so may respond differently to krill dynamics.

Black-browed Albatrosses are known to eat Antarctic Krill

“Applicants should give details about the proposed start and end dates of any proposal. Applicants should also provide specific dates by which outputs and products from the research will be produced. Successful proposals should preferably start as soon as possible; desk-based components for any proposals should commence before 1 July 2018, while any fieldwork should commence in the 2017/2018 field season. Total duration for the project should not exceed 24 months.”

Successful proposals might expect to receive in the order of US$ 50 000 - 100 000.  The closing date for applications is 27 June 2017.

Read more here.

With thanks to Mark Tasker.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 March 2017

Yves Cherel (Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Villiers-en-Bois, France) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series comparing diets of Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans at the French Crozets and Kerguelen.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Feeding ecology and isotopic niche of the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans were investigated in the poorly studied population on the Kerguelen Islands and compared to that on the Crozet Islands. Fish (48% by mass) and cephalopods (46%) were similarly important in chick food at Kerguelen, while cephalopods (87%) dominated the diet at Crozet. Fish prey included mainly deep-sea species, with the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides being the main item. Cephalopod beaks were identified, most of which were from adult oceanic squids. Albatrosses preyed upon the same taxa at both localities, but in different proportions. Histioteuthis atlantica (30% by number), Galiteuthis glacialis (13%), and Kondakovia longimana (10%) were the main squid prey at Kerguelen, while K. longimana (35%) and H. eltaninae (23%) dominated at Crozet. Chick feather δ15N values were higher in wandering albatrosses than in other oceanic seabirds of the 2 communities, indicating that the wandering albatross is an apex consumer together with the sperm whale and sleeper shark that have similar δ15N values. Satellite-tracked wandering albatrosses foraged in local subantarctic waters and farther north, with some Crozet birds overlapping with those from the Kerguelen population in western Kerguelen waters. Anthropogenic items (e.g. plastic fragments, hooks) were found in half the food samples. All fishery-related items were from the local toothfish fishery. The high number of hooks from Crozet indicated the presence of a fairly large number of illegal longliners in the area during the Austral winter 1998. A review of the feeding habits of Diomedea spp. highlights the need for more dietary investigations to achieve effective conservation and management of this endangered group of charismatic seabirds.

Wandering Albatrosses display, photograph by Rowan Treblico

Reference:

Cherel, Y., Xavier, J.C., de Grissac, S., Trouvé, C. & Weimerskirch, H. 2017.  Feeding ecology, isotopic niche, and ingestion of fishery-related items of the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans at Kerguelen and Crozet Islands. Marine Ecology Progress Series 565:197-215. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11994.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 March 2017

Incidental mortality of albatrosses in the Argentine freezer trawl fleet in the South Atlantic has been identified and described in previous ACAP meetings, as set out in the following documents (SBWG5 Doc 36; SBWG7 Doc 17 Rev 1; SBWG7 Inf 05 Rev 1).

During the last year, the Albatross Task Force Argentina (part of Aves Argentinas, the BirdLife International local partner), promoted the drafting of a new regulation for the use of bird-scaring lines on Argentine freezer trawlers, working in collaboration with the Under-Secretariat of Fisheries, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the National Fisheries Institute (INIDEP), the University of Mar del Plata (IIMyC, UNMDP-CONICET) and Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina.

Last week the Federal Fishery Council of Argentina, the agency that manages fishing activities in the country, adopted a conservation measure (Regulation 03/2017) requiring the use of bird-scaring lines in the freezer trawl fishery. The implementation of this conservation measure will be voluntary for one year and then become mandatory from 1 May 2018.

Nahuel Chavez (right) from ATF Argentina works with trawler crew members on a bird-scaring line, photograph by Nahuel Chavez

A bird-scaring line is deployed on an Argentine trawler during a mitigation trial, photograph by Leo Tamini

This new regulation adds to the one already in use requiring mitigation measures in demersal longline vessels (Regulation 08/2008, adopted in 2008 and in force since 2009) and forms part of the implementation of the Argentine National Plan of Action – Seabirds, adopted by the Federal Fishery Council in 2010 and recently revised (click here).

Leoandro Tamini, Albatross Task Force Argentina, 28 March 2017

Marcela Uhart (One Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, California, USA) and colleagues have published a review in the journal Bird Conservation International on diseases, including avian cholera caused by Pasteurella multocida, recorded from the 31 species of albatrosses and petrels listed by the Albatross and Petrel Agreement.

The paper’s abstract follows:

Albatrosses (Diomedeidae) and large petrels (Macronectes and Procellaria spp.) are among the world’s most rapidly declining birds. Some of the most endangered species, Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis, Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri and Sooty Albatross Phoebetria fusca, are at risk from recurrent avian cholera outbreaks. Yet little is known about the overall impact of disease in this group. We compiled all available information on pathogens described in albatrosses and large petrel species listed under the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) (n = 31). Available reports (n = 53) comprise nearly 60% of ACAP species (18/31). However, only 38% of them focus on threatened species (20/53), and 43% solely report macroparasite findings (23/53). Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys [sic] (Near Threatened) and Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus (Least Concern) are the two species with higher number of publications (29/53, 55% of all papers). Conversely, seven species on the IUCN Red List have three papers or less each. Most existing research has resulted from disease or mortality investigations and baseline studies (28 and 32%, respectively). Pathogens reported in the subset of ACAP species, included bacteria in seven species (39%), v iruses in five (28%), protozoa in four (22%), helminths in nine (50%), ectoparasites in 13 (72%) and fungi in one species (5%). Avian cholera, caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, appears as the most severe threat to ACAP species. Infections by poxvirus are the most common viral finding, yet entail lower population level impact. Few serosurveys report pathogen exposure in these species, but add valuable baseline information. There are numerous obvious gaps in species and geographical coverage and likely under-reporting due to remoteness, accessibility and sporadic monitoring. This insufficient knowledge may be hampering effective protection and management of populations at risk. Attention to species currently affected by avian cholera is of utmost priority.”

Amsterdam Albatross, photograph by Scott Shaffer

With thanks to Marcy Uhart.

Reference:

Uhart, M.M., Gallo, L. & Quintana, F. 2017.  Review of diseases (pathogen isolation, direct recovery and antibodies) in albatrosses and large petrels worldwide.  Bird Conservation International doi.org/10.1017/S0959270916000629.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 March 2017