The European Commission has proposed that all relevant fishing vessels in the European Union implement measures to stop the accidental catching of seabirds in their fishing gear (click here)

The International Council for the Exploration of Sea (ICES) Working Group on Seabird Ecology (WGSE) has estimated that more than 200 000 seabirds die every year as a result of contact with the EU fishing fleet in EU and non-EU waters, including the ACAP-listed and Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus (click here).

The following text is taken from the proposed measures to reduce incidental catches of seabirds in the Mediterranean Sea, home of the Balearic Shearwater:

“Vessels fishing with longlines in the Mediterranean Sea shall use at least two of the following mitigation measures: bird scaring lines, weighted lines, setting the longline gear during the hours of darkness with the minimum of deck lighting necessary for safety” (see page 39).

Balearic Shearwater, photograph by Daniel Oro

In 2012, the European Commission published a Seabird Plan of Action in an effort to codify the actions needed from different national, regional and EU institutions to solve the issue of seabird bycatch across the EU. The new legislation now needs to be negotiated between the Council (i.e. Member States) and the European Parliament this year before it becomes enforceable law.

Read more on the EU Plan of Action here.

With thanks to the Miguel McMinn.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 March 2016

Rachel Buxton (Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA) and colleagues have published a review paper in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation on deciding whether active or passive management should follow alien eradications on seabird islands.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Following the removal of an introduced species, island restoration can follow two general approaches: passive, where no further intervention occurs and the island is assumed to recover naturally, and; active, where recovery of key taxa (e.g. seabirds) is enhanced by manipulating movement and demography. Steps for deciding between these techniques are: (1) outlining an explicit restoration goal; (2) building a conceptual model of the system; (3) identifying the most effective management approach; and (4) implementing and monitoring outcomes.

After decades of island restoration initiatives, retrospective analysis of species' responses to active and passive management approaches is now feasible.

We summarize the advantages of incorporating these analyses of past restoration results as an initial step in the decision-making process.  We illustrate this process using lessons learned from the restoration of seabird-driven island ecosystems after introduced vertebrate eradication in New Zealand.  Throughout seven decades of successful vertebrate eradication projects, the goals of island restoration have shifted from passive to active enhancement of island communities, which are heavily dependent on burrow-nesting petrel population recovery.  Using a comparative analysis of petrel response to past predator eradications we built a conceptual model of petrel recovery dynamics and defined key site and species characteristics for use in a stepwise decision tree to select between active or passive seabird population management.

Active restoration techniques should be implemented when seabird populations are absent or declining; and on islands with no nearby source colony, small remnant colonies, highly altered habitat with shallow soil and slopes, and with competitive species pairs.  As we continue to restore complex island communities, decision-making tools using a logical, step-wise framework informed by previous restoration successes and failures can aid in increasing understanding of ecosystem response.

Sooty Shearwater, photograph by the West Coast Penguin Trust

With thanks to Barry Baker.

Reference:

Buxton, R.T., Jones, C.J., Lyver, P.O'B., Towns, D.R. & Borrelle, S.B. 2016.  Deciding when to lend a helping hand: a decision-making framework for seabird island restoration.  Biodiversity and Conservation 25: 467-484.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 March 2016

An Arctic or Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis was photographed in New Zealand waters in the general vicinity of the Snares Islands on 9 February 2014 by fisheries observer Leon Berard (click here).

NOTE: file photo of an Arctic Fulmar, not of the New Zealand record

This exceptional record, likely to be the first ever for the Southern Hemisphere (there appear to be none for both Australian and southern African waters) has this month been accepted by the Birds New Zealand Records Appraisal Committee.

The bird was identified by differences in bill colouration from the more-expected Antarctic Fulmar F. glacialoides and that it was a dark-phase individual – not seen in the Antarctic species.  It has been suggested that the relatively small head and slim bill of the New Zealand bird indicates that it came from the North Pacific population rather than from the North Atlantic.

Click here for the new entry for Arctic Fulmar on New Zealand Birds Online.

With thanks to Colin Miskelly.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 March 2016

Victoria González Carman (Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina) and colleagues have published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science on the roles of albatrosses, seals and turtles in identifying key ecological areas, such as highly productive Río de la Plata region which sustains the main coastal fisheries of Uruguay and Argentina.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“During the last centuries, populations of marine megafauna—such as seabirds, turtles, and mammals—were intensively exploited.  At present, other threats such as bycatch and pollution affect these species, which play key ecological roles in marine ecosystems as apex consumers and/or nutrient transporters.  This study analyses the distribution of six megafaunal species (Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta, Dermochelys coriacea, Thalassarche melanophris, Otaria flavescens, and Arctocephalus australis) coexisting in the Southwestern Atlantic to discuss their protection in terms of current management strategies in the region.  Through the prediction of the species potential distributions and their relation to bathymetry, sea temperature and oceanographic fronts, key ecological areas are defined from a multi-taxa perspective.  Information on the distribution of 70 individuals (18 sea turtles, 19 albatrosses, and 33 otariids) was obtained through satellite tracking conducted during 2007–2013 and analysed using a Geographic Information System and maximum entropy models.  During the autumn–winter period, megafaunal species were distributed over the continental shelves of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, mainly over the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone and the Argentina-Uruguay Common Fishing Zone.  Despite some differences, all megafaunal species seems to have similar environmental requirements during the autumn–winter period.  Mostly waters shallower than 50 m were identified as key ecological areas, with the Río de la Plata as the habitat with the highest suitability for all the species.  This area is highly productive and sustains the main coastal fisheries of Uruguay and Argentina, yet its role as a key ecological area for megafaunal species has been underestimated until now.  This approach provides a basis to analyse the effect of anthropic activities on megafaunal species through risk maps and, ultimately, to generate knowledge to improve national and bi-national management plans between Argentina and Uruguay.”

Black-browed Albatross, photograph by Juan Pablo Seco Pon

With thanks to Juan Pablo Seco Pon.

Reference:

González Carman, V., Mandiola, A., Alemany, D., Dassis, M., Seco Pon, J.P., Prosdocimi, L., Ponce de León, A., Mianzan, H., Acha, E.M., Rodríguez, D., Favero, M. & Copello, S. 2016.  Distribution of megafaunal species in the Southwestern Atlantic: key ecological areas and opportunities for marine conservation.  ICES Journal of Marine Science.  doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsw019.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 March 2016.