The first ever Newell’s Shearwater chick to hatch within the Nihoku exclosure

The Nihoku Ecosystem Restoration Project aims to create a new breeding site safe from introduced predators for two threatened seabirds on the Hawaiian island on Kauai.  The construction of a predator-fence within the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge allowed for the translocation and hand-feeding to fledging of chicks of the Endangered Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis and Critically Endangered Newell’s Shearwater Puffinus newelli.  Breeding by the former species has already taken place.  Now the shearwater has followed by breeding within the fence as announced by the environmental NGO, Pacific Rim Conservation.

“Allow us to introduce to you, the first ever Newell’s shearwater chick to hatch within the Nihoku exclosure at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge!  This chick is the offspring of a male that was translocated as a chick in 2018, and an unbanded, socially attracted female.  This chick represents a major milestone for the Nihoku Ecosystem Restoration Project and we couldn’t be more proud!”

The first ever Newell’s Shearwater chick to hatch within the Nihoku exclosure

To learn more about Nihoku, visit www.nihoku.org and check out previous postings to ACAP Latest News on the project here.  Information and photographs from the Facebook page of the Pacific Rim Conservation

Reference:

Young, L.C., Kohley, C.R., VanderWerf, E.A., Fowlke, L., Casillas, D., Dalton, M., Knight, M., Pesque, A.,  Dittmar, E.M., Raine, A,F. & Vynne, M. 2023. Successful translocation of Newell’s Shearwaters and Hawaiian Petrels to create a new, predator free breeding colony. Frontiers in Conservation Science 4. doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2023.1177789.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 13 August 2024

Albatross Task Force Instructor, Leo Tamini (left) and electronic monitoring compliance device inventor, Sihle Ngcongo (right) hold up the device outside the Seabird Bycatch Working Group meeting in Lima, Peru. Tamini plans to test the device in Argentinian Fisheries. 

At the recent Eighth Meeting of ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group (SBWG8), former fisheries observer and founder of Imvelo Blue Environment Consultancy, Sihle Ngcongo, presented an update on the electronic monitoring (EM) compliance device project that received ACAP funding through the 2019 small grants round. The EM device, conceived by Ngcongo, was developed in partnership with BirdLife South Africa with technical assistance from Nelson Miranda of Argonaut Science. 

The EM device works by monitoring the mechanical tension of a deployed bird scaring line and transmits real time and tension data wirelessly. This not only enhances the independent monitoring and deployment of this key seabird bycatch mitigation measure but also has the potential to reduce seabird bycatch rates, reduce workloads, and increase safety for both crew and observers at sea.

Ngcongo says the idea for the EM device came from a concern for the safety of fisheries observers, particularly at night when it is difficult to know if bird scaring lines have been deployed correctly. 

The potential of the device was apparent to Albatross Task Force (ATF) Instructor and Marine Program Coordinator for Aves Argentinas, Leo Tamini, who has taken one of the devices back to Argentina for testing. 

“We plan to test the device by integrating it into the activities of our ATF Argentina team during our next trip on an Argentinean freezer trawler. Hopefully, this can happen within this year,” said Tamini.

With the EM device having now reached its final production stage making it suitable for manufacture for the market, Ngcongo is cautiously optimistic about its future.

“My hope is for the device to be recognized as a cutting-edge innovation that can confirm bird scaring line compliance for the prevention of seabird entanglement and mortalities on longline vessels and trawlers.”

Bird scaring lines (BSL) are a best practice mitigation measure for reducing seabird bycatch in fisheries. ACAP’s Best Practice Advice for seabird bycatch mitigation along with its bycatch mitigation factsheets in several languages can be found at the ACAP website.

A summary report of ACAP funded projects will be presented to ACAP's Advisory Committee at its Fourteenth Meeting (AC14) commencing in Lima, Peru, on Monday. Updates on ACAP Small Grants and Secondments projects received at the recent meetings of ACAP's Working Groups will be featured in ACAP Latest News over the coming weeks. 

11 August 2024

 
Southern Royal Albatross on Campbell Island, photograph by Hannah Shand

Claudia Mischler and colleagues have produced a final report on research conducted on Campbell Island albatrosses during 2023/24 for the Conservation Services Programme Technical Working Group of New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.

The report’s Summary follows:

“This trip was a follow-up project from the work done on Campbell Island in March 2020 and February 2023 to primarily determine population trends for southern royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora). Nests were counted in two study (Col and Moubray) and three index areas (Faye, Paris, Honey) to compare to historical counts. Additional aims were to resight marked birds, band up to 200 pairs in the Col study area, deploy PTT and GLS tags, and set up remote cameras on nests to monitor breeding success. Other species work included conducting photo point counts for Campbell (Thalassarche impavida) and grey-headed albatross (T. chrysostoma) and to deploy remote cameras on grey-headed albatross nests. Accessible nest sites were searched for light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata), PTT trackers deployed, and remote cameras set up at nests. Opportunistic searches while traveling or within southern royal albatross study and index areas were done for Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis), and any unbanded birds were marked. Opportunistic searches and counts were also done for northern giant petrels (Macronectes halli) and white-chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis).

Nest counts for southern royal albatross showed an overall decline of 32.8% since the 1990s and a 26.5% decline since the 2000s. Paris index area had the highest percent change of -46.2% since the 1990s, and Col study area had the lowest at -23.6%. A total of 35 PTT trackers were deployed on southern royal albatross in the Col study area which show birds moving north to the Chatham Rise, west to Tasmania, south towards Antarctica, and to the Patagonian Shelf east of Argentina. Thirty-four GLSs devices were also deployed. For demographics, 113 nests have both birds of the pair marked within the Col study area, and 22 cameras were set up on nests to monitor breeding success. For Campbell and grey-headed albatross photo point counts, the percent change between 2019/20 and 2023/24 showed a decline in the total number of Campbell albatross (sitting and loafing birds) of 16.1% and a decline of 27.6% of grey-headed albatross. For breeding success monitoring of grey-headed albatross, five cameras covering 28 nests were deployed. For light-mantled sooty albatross, ten PTT trackers were deployed on non-breeding birds which show most birds travelling south towards Antarctica. A total of 11 cameras covering 14 nests were set up for breeding success monitoring. For Antipodean albatross, eight birds were found on the Moubray Peninsula, of which three were previously banded as chicks in the 1990s.

Reference:

Mischler, C., Thompson, T., Moore, P., Philp, B. & Wickes, C. 2024.  POP2023-04 Campbell Island Seabird Research Project.  [Wellington]: Department of Conservation.  49 pp.

10 August 2024

Nigel Brothers took to the floor to present his paper, "Minimum Weight at the Hook Allowance of 50 g Inclusive of Hook Weight for Pelagic Longlines"

The Twelfth Meeting of ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group (SBWG12) concluded its second day of deliberations in Lima today.

SBWG12 continued its comprehensive review of papers addressing seabird bycatch, including those focused on mitigation measures across various fisheries, seabird safe rescue techniques, toolbox approaches for bycatch reduction, and a novel electronic monitoring device for compliance.

Several of the papers presented for SBWG12’s consideration stemmed from research funded by ACAP’s small grants programme including, SBWG12 Inf 14: Bycatch mitigation in longline SSF in Southern Peru and SBWG12 Doc 09: Minimum Weight at Hook for Pelagic LL.

Documents and Information Papers for the ACAP Working Group meetings, as well as for the upcoming Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee (AC14), are available through the Upcoming Meetings and Events page on the ACAP website. Please note that some documents are password-protected, with only abstracts accessible to the public.

SBWG12 concludes on Wednesday 7 August, with the resulting report submitted to AC14 for consideration starting next Monday.

7 August 2024