A commercial fishing boat skipper who caused the death of 39 threatened albatrosses refused to use a bird-scaring line, a court has been told.

The vessel’s master was fishing for Southern Bluefin Tuna Thunnus maccoyii off the West Coast of New Zealand in April this year and failed to use a bird-scaring line during two fishing trips, a mandatory requirement for the fishery, resulting in the capture of 41 albatrosses, 39 of which died.  A Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) observer on board noticed that 10 longlines with up to 1400 hooks were set without a bird-scaring line, despite one being aboard and the captain being informed he was required to deploy it.

The albatrosses killed were 24 Buller’s Thalassarche bulleri, 14 White-capped T. steadi and one Wandering Diomedea exulans.  Single southern Royal D. epomophora and White-capped Albatrosses were released alive. According to information to hand the Buller’s Albatrosses would have been of the southern nominate race that were feeding chicks at the time, which will not have survived to fledging with only one parent remaining to feed them.

Buller's Albatross, photograph by Chris Golding

The court was told the captain knew he had to use a bird-scaring line under the Fisheries (Commercial Fishing) Regulations and had admitted to not using one.  The captain pleaded guilty but stated that “he did not use streamer lines because he was concerned for the safety of his crew and they cost him time and money when the streamer lines damaged the fishing vessel".

Sentencing is set for 14 November.  The maximum fine for the offence is NZ$ 100 000 and forfeiture of the fishing vessel.

The MPI is now considering the mandatory use of weighted lines for pelagic longliners.

Read more:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/84933279/fisherman-pleads-guilty-to-38-albatross-deaths

http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/west-coast-fisherman-admits-causing-deaths-of-38-albatross-2016100412

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/82116704/Commercial-fisherman-prosecuted-over-38-albatross-deaths-on-West-Coast

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11722328

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/fisherman-pleads-guilty-killing-39-albatrosses

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 October 2016

Graham Robertson (Kingston, Tasmania, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal Polar Biology on population increases of Black-browed Thalassarche melanophris and Grey-headed T. chrysostoma Albatrosses on Chilean islands.

Black-browed Albatross

Grey-headed Albatross, photographs by Cristián Suazo

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) are killed incidentally in commercial fishing operations.  Aerial surveys in 2002 and 2011 revealed the number of black-browed albatrosses at the Diego Ramírez and Ildefonso islands, Chile, increased by 52 and 18 %, respectively.  The increases were attributed to reduced mortality in the longline fishery for Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) following fleet conversion to a new gear configuration with much higher average hook sink rates.  A new survey in 2014 revealed the number of black-browed albatrosses at Ildefonso was about the same as in 2011, but the number at Diego Ramírez had increased by a further 29 % (8.8 %/year).  The number of greyheaded albatrosses (Thalassarche chrysostoma) at Diego Ramírez also increased, by 23 %, in the same time period.  In 2014, Ildefonso held an estimated 54,284 breeding pairs of black-browed albatrosses.  The populations of blackbrowed albatrosses at two more northern sites, the Evangelistas and Leonard islets, stood at 4818 and 545 breeding pairs, respectively.  The total number of breeding pairs of both albatross species at Diego could not be determined because not all islands in the archipelago were surveyed.”

Black-browed Albatrosses hunker down on their nests in strong wind on a Chilean Island, photograph by Graham Robertson

With thanks to Cristián Suazo.

Reference:

Robertson, G., Wienecke, B., Suazo, C.G., Lawton, K., Arata, J.A. & Moreno, C. 2016.  Continued increase in the number of black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) at Diego Ramírez, Chile.  Polar Biology DOI 10.1007/s00300-016-2028-5.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 05 October 2016

Sofía Copello (Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Mar del Plata, Argentina) and colleagues have written on the effect of a fishing closure on albatross and petrel distribution and bycatch in Argentine waters in the journal Marine Policy.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Fisheries management may impact on a range of seabirds’ traits such as foraging behavior.  There is an extensive hake fishing closure in Argentine waters (HFC) where trawling is banned.  The concentration of fishing effort in the boundary of this area triggered the question of a potential negative effect of seabird bycatch in such area.  The distribution of seabirds attending vessels and their bycatch rates was explored as well as the foraging behavior of Black-browed albatrosses (BBA, Thalassarche melanophris) and Southern Giant Petrels (SGP, Macronectes giganteus) in relation to the HFC.  For this, 55 satellite transmitters were deployed on the birds and discrete behavioral mode was inferred using state-space models.  Seabird attendance at trawlers and bycatch data were obtained from on-board observers.  The spatial distribution of the birds’ bycatch was concentrated in the boundary of the HFC and the distance to the boundary had a significant effect on the interactions. The spatial modeling of seabird attendance revealed a similar pattern with core areas in the margins of the HFC.  The bulk of the core foraging areas of BBAs and SGPs were concentrated in waters adjacent to the HFC.  Besides, the time spent foraging in the boundaries of the HFC was greater than inside the HFC.  The study highlights that the “exporting effect” due to the concentration of fishing effort and seabird foraging in bordering areas may increase seabird bycatch in the neighboring waters.  Hence, the design of management measures for seabird bycatch should contemplate regulations to address these negative side effects.”

Black-browed Albatrosses congregate behind a fishing vessel in the South Atlantic, photograph by Graham Parker 

Reference:

Copello, S., Gabriela S. Blanco, G.S., Seco Pon, J.P., Quintana, F. & Favero, M. 2016.  Exporting the problem: issues with fishing closures in seabird conservation.  Marine Policy 74: 120–127.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 04 October 2016

José Fernández-Costa (Instituto Español de Oceanografía, A Coruña, Spain) and colleagues submitted a document on “interactions” (=bycatch?) with seabirds by a Spanish longline fishery targeting swordfish in the Indian Ocean to the 12th Meeting of the Working Party on Ecosystems and Bycatch (WPEB12) of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) held in Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles earlier this month.

The document’s summary follows:

“A total of 310 fishing sets (361,608 hooks) targeting swordfish in the Indian Ocean (lat ≥ 25ºS) between 2011-2015 were analyzed.  The areas included in the study are between 25º-36ºS and 34º-72ºE.  However, the interaction with seabirds was restricted to areas between 31º-36ºS and 37º-48ºE during the January-April period.  A total of 19 seabird individuals during the whole period 2011-2015, identified as belonging to seven species, interacted with the fishing operation (Diomedea exulans, Phoebetria fusca, Procellaria aequinoctialis, Thalassarche carteri, Thalassarche cauta, Thalassarche melanophris, Thalassarche salvini). Most interactions occurred in one year-months and in a single 5ºx5º square.  Interactions observed in other areas were minor or regularly null.  The overall rate of interaction estimated for areas lat ≥ 25ºS and species combined was estimated at 5.254E-05 seabird/hook.  Night setting and low levels of lighting during setting operations as well as other fishing protocols applied by the vessels were identified as the most important factors to explain the regularly low or null interaction with seabirds.

Sightings of seabirds were also made during the trips studied, most of them occurring during daytime sailing.  Procellaria aequinoctialis was identified as the most prevalent species in sightings.  Other less prevalent species were identified as Phoebetria fusca, Thalassarche carteri, Diomedea exulans, Thalassarche cauta, Pterodroma macroptera, Thalassarche salvini and very sporadically Sulidae/Laridae, Oceanites spp. and Ardena pacifica (sic).  The paper also summarizes the mitigation regulations put in place at national level for reducing the incidental bycatch of seabirds in the longline fleet in the Indian Ocean.”

White-chinned Petrel killled by a longline hook, photograph by Nicolas Gasco 

Reference:

Fernández-Costa, J., Ramos-Cartelle, A., Carroceda, A. & Mejut, J. 2016.  Interaction between seabirds and Spanish surface longline targeting swordfish in the Indian Ocean (Lat ≥ 25º south) during the period 2011-2015.  IOTC-2016-WPEB 12-29.  11 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 October 2016