Graham Parker (Parker Conservation, Dunedin, New Zealand) and colleagues have produced a final report for the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) that details a survey of breeding Northern Giant Petrels Macronectes halli (Least Concern) at New Zealand’s Auckland Island Group over the 2015/16 austral summer; birds were found breeding at five localities.

Northern Giant Petrels breeding on Disappointment Island, with the main island of Auckland in the background

The report’s executive summary follows:

“Northern giant petrels Macronectes halli are a large, southern hemisphere fulmarine petrel that face conservation threats both in the terrestrial and marine environment. Introduced  mammalian predators at breeding sites cause nesting failures and in some instances may  also depredate adults. In the marine environment Northern giant petrels are threatened by  capture in longline and trawl fisheries, oil pollution, shooting by fishers for bait stealing and  the effects of climate change.

The contemporary size and the population trends of Northern giant petrels on New Zealand  islands are not known. Records of their numbers in the Auckland Islands are based solely on  anecdotal evidence, and the most recent summary dates to the 1980s. We estimated the  size of the Northern giant petrel breeding population and describe their spatial distribution  in the Auckland Islands. Surveys counted 216 Northern giant petrel chicks on eight of the 15 islands visited in  December 2015 and January 2016. Enderby Island had the largest breeding population, with  96 chicks counted. This represents a large increase in the population on Enderby Island  compared to the only historic comprehensive count, in 1988, when just two Northern giant  petrel chicks were counted. The second and third‐largest populations were on  Disappointment, (38) and Dundas Islands (32). No breeding Northern giant petrels were  reported from Rose and Friday Islands, where the species has previously been recorded  breeding. Chicks were counted at two locations previously not reported to support breeding  Northern giant petrels, at French’s Island and Crozier Point on the main Auckland Island.   Applying crude correction factors based on breeding success at the nearest Northern giant  petrel colony where these data have been collected, Macquarie Island, we estimate the  breeding population in the Auckland Islands 2015‐2016 to be approximately 340 (range 310‐390) breeding pairs. We recommend future monitoring of the Auckland Island Northern  giant petrel breeding population. Ideally island‐wide surveys would be repeated at regular  3‐5 year intervals. Enderby Island would be the ideal location for regular, annual counts of  breeding birds.”

Northern Giant Petrel chick on Disappointment Island, Auckland Island Group

Photographs by Graham Parker

With thanks to Graham Parker.

Reference:

Parker, G.C., Muller, C.G. & Rexer‐Huber, K. 2016.  Northern giant petrel Macronectes halli breeding population survey, Auckland Islands December 2015 – February 2016.  Department of Conservation, Conservation Services Programme, Contract 4655‐4.  Dunedin: Parker Conservation.  16 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 04 August 2016

Greg McClelland (RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, United Kingdom) and colleagues have published early online in the open-access journal Marine Ornithology on using a drone to survey ACAP-listed and Critically Endangered Tristan Albatrosses Diomedea dabbenena present on Inaccessible Island in the South Atlantic.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer a number of potential applications in wildlife monitoring, including the aerial surveying of seabird populations on remote islands. While UAVs may represent considerable improvements and/or cost savings over other survey techniques, such as ground searches or surveys via fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter, their use to date has been rare. The few studies that have used UAVs have employed systems that are either custom-made or beyond the budget of many small conservation programs. In this study we tested a low-budget (US$2600), off-the-shelf UAV (DJI Phantom 2) equipped with an on-board camera (GoPro Hero4) as a tool for rapidly assessing the population status of the endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena on Inaccessible Island, South Atlantic Ocean. The Tristan Albatross population on Inaccessible Island was estimated as one breeding pair and four additional non-breeding birds in February 2015. The UAV successfully surveyed 3.28 km2 of the island in 32.1 min flight time. While the survey was successful, future surveys would be greatly improved by some form of pre-programmed navigation capability.”

Incubating Tristan Albatross on Inacessible Island in February 2011, photograph by Lourens Malan

Reference:

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.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 August 2016

 Information on an employment opportunity with BirdLife follows:

“The project “Sustainable Management of Tuna Fisheries and Biodiversity Conservation in the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ)”, (also known as the Common Oceans Tuna Project) is a critical component of the GEF supported ABNJ Program “ABNJ Global Sustainable Fisheries Management and Biodiversity Conservation in the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction”.  The program objective is to achieve responsibility, efficiency and sustainability in tuna production and biodiversity conservation in the ABNJ, through the use of sustainable and efficient fisheries management and fishing practices by the stakeholders of the tuna resources; (ii) reducing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and (iii) mitigating adverse impacts of bycatch on biodiversity.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the implementing agency of the project.  BirdLife International, through its local partner, BirdLife South Africa (BLSA), is implementing the seabird bycatch component of the Common Oceans Tuna Project.

A major objective of the seabird component of the project is to initiate and implement capacity building of national scientists (through a series of workshops) within selected countries to enable them to better manage, analyze and report seabird bycatch data and the effectiveness of mitigation measures used. Collaboratively, the workshops will discuss analytical approaches and ideally develop agreed approaches for analysis.

We are seeking a consultant(s) to assist in the planning of the workshop discussions, working with individual countries and their data, attend and facilitate technical discussions at the planned workshops and develop the analytical approach and standardized statistical tools (e.g. R scripts and Excel sheet macro or similar) for managing and analyzing fishing, Conservation and Management Measures (CMM) use and seabird bycatch data.”

More information can be found here.  The closing date is 31 August 2016.

Longline-hooked Black-browed Albatross, photograph by Graham Robertson

Longline casualty.  Remains of a White-chinned Petrel, photograph by Jessica Kemper

De-hooking a Wandering Albatross, photograph courtesy British Antarctic Survey

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 August 2016

ACAP’s Executive Secretary, Marco Favero is attending meetings of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Bali, Indonesia over this and next week.

Starting today with the 2nd Meeting of the Electronic Reporting and Electronic Monitoring Intersessional Working Group (EM-ER WG2) over two days, the Commission’s Scientific Committee will then meet for a week in its 12th Regular Session (WCPFC SC12).

The working group meeting is considering monitoring matters that were discussed during the Seventh Meeting of ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group (SBWG7), held earlier this year in Chile.

During the Scientific Committee session ACAP will present an information paper offering advice for reducing the impact of pelagic longline fishing operations on seabirds.  The ACAP paper’s abstract follows:

“The incidental mortality of seabirds, mostly albatrosses and petrels, in longline fisheries continues to be a serious global concern and was the major reason for the establishment of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP).  In longline fisheries seabirds are killed when they become hooked and drowned while foraging for baits on longline hooks as the gear is deployed.  They also can become hooked as the gear is hauled, although many of these seabirds can be released alive with careful handling.  ACAP routinely reviews the scientific literature regarding seabird bycatch mitigation in fisheries, and on the basis of these reviews updates its best practice advice.  The most recent review was conducted in May 2016 at ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group and Advisory Committee meetings (ACAP 2016), and this document presents a distillation of that review for the consideration of the WCPFC Scientific Committee.  A combination of weighted branch lines, bird-scaring lines and night setting remains the best practice approach to mitigate seabird bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries.  Changes in this regard only applied to the recommended minimum standards for line weighting regimes, now updated to the following configurations: (a) 40 g or greater attached within 0.5 m of the hook; or (b) 60 g or greater attached within 1 m of the hook; or (c) 80 g or greater attached within 2 m of the hook.  In addition, ACAP endorsed the inclusion in the list of best practice measures of two hook-shielding devices as stand-alone mitigation measures. Such hook-shielding devices encase the point and barb of baited hooks until a prescribed depth or time immersed to prevent seabird becoming hooked during line setting.  The following performance requirements were used by ACAP to assess the efficacy of hook-shielding devices in reducing seabird bycatch: (a) the device shields the hook until a prescribed depth of 10 m or immersion time of 10 minutes is reached; (b) the device meets current recommended minimum standards for branch line weighting; and (c) experimental research has been undertaken to allow assessment of the effectiveness, efficiency and practicality of the technology against the ACAP best practice seabird bycatch mitigation criteria.  ACAP recognizes that factors such as safety, practicality and the characteristics of the fishery should also be taken into account when considering the efficacy of seabird bycatch mitigation measures and consequently in the development of advice and guidelines on best practice.”

Other papers by New Zealand authors to be considered by the Scientific Committee will provide guidance on levels of observer coverage and report on the hook pod, described as a novel seabird mitigation option.

References:

Debski, I., Pierre, J. & Knowles, K. 2016.  Observer coverage to monitor seabird captures in pelagic longline fisheries.  WCPFC-SC12-2016/ EB-IP-07.  11 pp.

Favero, M., Wolfaardt, A. & Walker, N. 2016.  ACAP advice for reducing the impact of pelagic longline fishing operations on seabirds.  WCPFC-SC12-2016/ EB-IP-05.  11 pp.

Walker, N., Sullivan, B., Debski, I. & Knowles, K. 2016.  Development and testing of a novel seabird mitigation option, the Hook Pod, in New Zealand pelagic longline fisheries.  WCPFC-SC12-2016/ EB-IP-06.  11 pp

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 August 2016