The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO)

The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) has a vacancy for an experienced Data Manager to join their team in Wellington, New Zealand. Candidates will possess excellent data/database management abilities, have a solid understanding of fisheries management and/or fisheries science and demonstrate strong interpersonal skills. 

An illustrative depiction of the Area of application of the SPRFMO Convention; SPRFMO website

In addition to the day-to-day data management responsibilities and interactions, this is an exciting and demanding time to be the SPRFMO Data Manager as the organisation has just gone through a process to solicit Request for Proposals for a new data base provider. This provides a great opportunity for the data base manager to seize the opportunity to enhance the SPRFMO database to address new and emerging data requirements, to facilitate the integration of our various data holdings, improve automated reporting and analysis, as well as investigate the application of new web tools/apps to simplify and streamline the data collection and reporting processes.

The deadline for applications is the 28 July 2023. 

Information on the position is available from the SPRFMO website at, https://www.sprfmo.int/news/current-news/vacancy-sprfmo-data-manager-2/.

21 June 2023

 
Marion’s 80th Overwintering Team displays its banner on the island, photograph from Michelle Risi (standing fourth from left)

The 2023/24 Overwintering Team (M80) on South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island posed this past week with a banner to mark yesterday’s World Albatross Day with its theme of “Plastic Pollution”. The whole team came out for the photograph of the banner, designed on the island by team member and seabird researcher, Michelle Risi. Michelle is a long-term supporter of ACAP; indeed, in 2018 she proposed that ACAP should initiate a World Albatross Day and she designed all ACAP’s posters for the day for its first three years.

At risk to mice: a Grey-headed Albatross on Marion Island; photograph and poster design by Michelle Risi

Four species of albatrosses breed regularly on Marion Island, all are categorized as globally threatened. These four species, Grey-headed Thalassarche chrysostoma, Light-mantled Phoebetria palpebrata, Sooty P. fusca and Wandering Diomedea exulans, have all been victims of attacks by the island’s introduced House Mice, leading to mortalities of both adults and chicks. As a consequence, the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project was established to eradicate the mice, currently planned to take place in winter 2025. The project is a joint effort by the environmental NGO BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate. To support ACAP’s awareness raising, BirdLife South Africa on behalf of the MFM Project has sponsored the production of three posters in the ACAP Species Infographic series, for the Light-mantled, Sooty and Wandering Albatrosses; an infographic for the Grey-headed Albatross has been sponsored by the Australian Antarctic Program. All four infographics, by Thai illustrator, Namasri ‘Namo’ Niumim, draw attention to the deleterious effects of Marion’s mice. The infographics may be freely downloaded from here at a high resolution to allow for printing professionally in two poster sizes (approximately A2 and A3). Please note they are only being made available by ACAP when engaging in activities that will aid in drawing attention to the conservation crisis being faced by the world’s albatrosses and petrels, or for personal use. They should not be used for personal gain.

Making the banner: first computer design, then projecting onto a sheet for lettering by hand. From left: Michelle Risi, Zafar Monier and Tammy Eggeling, photographs by Chris Jones and Michelle Risi

With grateful thanks to Michelle Risi and Marion Island’s 80th Overwintering Team for their support. Team members Tammy Eggeling, Chris Jones and Zafar Monier helped Michelle make the banner.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 20 June 2023

 
A Laysan Albatross feeds brightly coloured pieces of plastic mistakenly ingested at sea to its chick by ABUN artist Lyn Lynch, after a photograph by Chris Jordan

The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) has chosen the theme “Plastic Pollution” to mark the fourth World Albatross Day, being celebrated today, 19 June. The annual celebration occurs on the date the Agreement was signed in 2001. It aims to increase awareness of the continuing conservation crisis faced by ACAP’s 31 listed species of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters.

Albatrosses are affected by a range of pollutants, of which plastics, whether ingested and then fed to chicks or causing entanglements, are certainly the most visible and well known to the general public. Albatrosses and petrels face other significant pollutants, including heavy metals, (such as mercury) and POPs (persistent organic pollutants, such as insecticides).

Dr Mike Double, Chair of the ACAP Advisory Committee, writes to ACAP Latest News: “Although bycatch in fisheries and invasive species at breeding sites remain the biggest threats, the impacts of the vast amount of plastic debris in our oceans surely contributes to the conservation crisis facing albatross species by damaging the digestive tract and likely reducing foraging efficiency, contributing to lethal or sublethal impacts.  Impacts of plastic debris are particularly severe in the albatrosses of the North Pacific where almost all chicks will ingest plastics in the food provided by their parents. However, in the southern hemisphere the amount of plastic debris is increasing and plastic is now commonly detected in the stomachs of beach-cast albatrosses.”

Plastic pieces removed from the stomach of a single Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes that failed to fledge, photograph from the Adrift Lab

As well as the world’s 22 species of albatrosses, other procellariforms are prone to ingest pieces of plastic found floating on the sea surface and mistaken for food. A notable example is the Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carnepeis, shown to ingest very large amounts of plastic at one breeding locality at least (click here), with a new term “Plasticosis” coined to describe the damage caused. This shearwater has previously been identified as a potential candidate for ACAP listing (click here).

A new initiative for 2013: The World Albatross Day logo in Indonesian

Once more, ACAP’s World Albatross Day logo has been produced in the three official ACAP languages of English, French and Spanish, plus Portuguese. In addition, and for the first year, the logo has also been produced in Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Simplified and Traditional Chinese versions to mark the importance of Asian high-seas fishing fleets in working towards the conservation of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters.

“Not My Little Pony”.  A Northern Royal Albatross chick at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head, New Zealand avoids ingesting plastic (click here)

Two albatross species are being used to highlight the theme for this year’s World Albatross Day. These are the globally Endangered Northern Royal Albatross D. sanfordi, endemic to New Zealand, and the abundant and widespread Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris. In addition, coverage has been given once more to last year’s two featured species, the Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses of the North Pacific, which ingest more plastic than do the southern hemisphere species.

75 artworks from Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature have been combined in a collage in support of World Albatross Day 2023

ACAP has collaborated for the fourth year with Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) to produce 75 artworks by 31 participating artists that depict the effects of plastic pollution on the four featured albatross species for WAD2023. All these artworks have been combined with original music to produce a video to mark this year’s World Albatross Day; the individual artworks are also available in an ACAP Facebook Album. Six of these artworks by different ABUN artists have been made into posters in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

WAD2023’s 12 photo posters are also in Portuguese this year. A colour-banded Black-browed Albatross stands over its chick on Bird Island in the South Atlantic. Photograph by Erin Taylor, poster design by Bree Forrer

Twelve posters depicting the four featured albatrosses in all the nine language versions named above have been produced using photographs donated to ACAP by supporters, available from the ACAP website here and in albums in each language on Facebook.

The ACAP Species Infographic poster for the Black-browed Albatross in support of World Albatross Day 2023 has been sponsored by the Australian Antarctic Program; it is available in four language versions and three sizes

In addition, two new ACAP Species Infographics by illustrator Namasri Niumim have been created in the three official languages for the Black-browed and Northern Royal Albatrosses to mark WAD2023; joining those for Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses that were produced last year for WAD2022. The infographic for the Black-browed Albatross also comes in a Portuguese version, marking that the species is a regular non-breeding visitor to Brazilian waters. All 12 infographics produced to date can be downloaded from here.

The logos, artwork and photo posters and the infographics are all freely available for non-commercial use in the support of the conservation of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters. Parties to the Agreement, government environmental departments, educational facilities, NGOs and members the interested public are encouraged to print out and display ACAP’s artwork, infographic and photo posters that have been produced to mark this year’s World Albatross Day.

The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels strives, through its 13 Parties, to conserve albatrosses and petrels by coordinating international activities to mitigate threats to their populations. In 2019 ACAP’s Advisory Committee declared that a conservation crisis continues to be faced by its 31 listed species, with thousands of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters dying every year because of fisheries operations. Raising awareness of this crisis via World Albatross Day is one-way ACAP is addressing the birds’ plight. Previous themes for World Albatross Day were “Eradicating Island Pests” in 2020, “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries” in 2021 and “Climate Change” last year.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 19 June 2023

“Trapped”. Black-footed Albatross by Rosana Venturini of Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature for World Albatross Day 2023, poster design by Bree Forrer

NOTE: This month’s Monthly Missive also serves as Day Six of ‘WADWEEK2023’.

Initiating a World Albatross Day

Back in the latter half of 2018 I was contacted by seabird researcher Michelle Risi with the suggestion that there should be a World Albatross Day to celebrate albatrosses and their kin once a year and to enhance awareness of their conservation needs (click here). On and off for some years as ACAP’s Information Officer I had toyed with the idea of a special day for albatrosses and petrels but had not taken the idea any further. Michelle had used the internet and social media to sound out the views of marine ornithologists and others, obtaining positive replies. Armed with this support, and following further discussions within the ACAP community, Michelle and I co-wrote an Information Paper on behalf of the Secretariat proposing a World Albatross Day for discussion at the Eleventh Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee that was to be held in Florianópolis, Brazil in May 2019.

Michelle Risi proposed a World Albatross Day to ACAP in 2018; here she is with an Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos on its pedestal nest within a study colony on Gough Island in the South Atlantic

In our paper we proposed that the inaugural World Albatross Day should be marked annually on 19 June, the date in 2001 that the Albatross and Petrel Agreement was signed in Canberra, Australia. Preliminary discussions engendered several suggested dates based on albatross annual cycles but given the variations that exist among species across both hemispheres this was not thought ideal. We further suggested it would be best to start relatively modestly, using the period to 19 June 2020 to spread the word via social media and other means. Following discussion by the Advisory Committee, considerable support for the proposal was received from the Parties, observing range states and NGOs present, who noted that marking World Albatross Day would align well with the aim of giving the Agreement greater visibility (click here). It was thus agreed that ACAP would take the lead in inaugurating a World Albatross Day on 19 June the following year, to allow a generous lead time to advertise it. The Advisory Committee then appointed an intersessional group to explore the proposal further comprising Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and the UK, the NGO Projeto Albatroz, and the ACAP Information Officer, to be led by Verónica López from Chile. This group met on the last day of the Advisory Committee meeting for an initial discussion; thereafter communicating electronically.

 
The World Albatross Day logo for 2020 in English, French and Spanish versions was designed by Geoffrey Tyler

Working up to and holding the first World Albatross Day in 2020

An early decision was that World Albatross Days should have an annual theme, and “Eradicating Island Pests” was chosen for 2020. A World Albatross Day logo was then designed in English, French and Spanish pro bono by illustrator Geoffrey Tyler. To launch the inaugural World Albatross Day, it was considered necessary to start early in 2020 to “spread the word” as widely as possible, especially within those countries that are range states for ACAP-listed species. To achieve this, several approaches were taken. One that was particularly successful was utilizing my contacts built up over a life-time career as a marine ornithologist to request a short quote in support of a World Albatross Day, along with a “head and shoulders” mug shot. This appeal was remarkably successful, around a hundred responded positively with only one seabird researcher who replied declining to do so. The quotes and photos were regularly displayed as they came in on the ACAP website’s home page and in news posts and on ACAP’s Facebook page. Quotes were also requested from as many national partners of BirdLife International and other environmental NGOs as could be contacted, again with good success.

With the aid of the intersessional group, notably its Convenor, Verónica López, three public competitions were held, to further spread awareness. These were a photographic competition, a colouring-in competition for children (with age categories) and the Great Albicake Bake Off, with teams of international experts appointed for each to judge the results.  Category and overall winners and runners-up received WAD2020 posters designed by Michelle Risi in the mail (as COVID-19 restrictions allowed). All entrants received an electronic certificate. All three competitions received good responses, with around 70 “albicakes” being produced, some of them truly remarkable. A poster depicting the 22 albatross species was also produced pro bono by internationally recognized illustrator Owen Davey, and Marc Parchow of Qual Albatroz produced a special cartoon for the day in four language versions, also without charge.

 
Adam Naylor’s prize-winning “albicake” depicted Tristan Albatrosses on Gough Island being threatened by introduced House Mice – fitting nicely into the WAD2020 theme of “Eradicating Island Pests”

The highlight for me was setting up the first collaboration with Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) through its co-founder Kitty Harvill. This resulted in no less than 324 artworks being produced by 77 artists for ACAP’s use, all at no financial cost to the Agreement! Again, many remarkable paintings were produced, some being turned into posters by Ruth Cooper. The collaboration ended with a collage poster of all the artworks and a nine-and-a-half-minute video being produced by Kitty, the latter with a musical score by USA-based musician John Nicolosi entitled ‘Flight of the Albatross’.

To help inform ABUN artists of the world’s 22 species of albatrosses they were being asked to paint, species texts were written for its Facebook page These have evolved into the ACAP Species Summaries series, with now all 31 ACAP-listed species depicted in downloadable two-page sheets, each illustrated with ABUN art. These are available in English, French and Spanish, with six of them currently being translated into Portuguese.

 
A Black-browed Albatross is reflected in the eye of a Light-mantled Albatross Phoebastria palpebrata. ABUN art for WAD2020 by Martin Aveling

In 2019 we also initiated a banner challenge, requesting field workers at albatross-breeding sites to make and display a banner supporting 2020’s World Albatross Day, preferably with a suitable-distanced albatross in the fore or background.  It took a good year to receive photographs of all the banners collected, but coverage was remarkably good, considering the difficulties of getting ashore at some of the breeding localities with 50 banners displayed by 10 different countries, as well as in disputed territories and even on fishing vessels at sea. Public judging then followed with the best three banners being selected from the collection on the ACAP Facebook page.

 
One of my favourites: Kath Walker ONZM and Graeme Elliott with their WAD2020 banner on New Zealand’s Antipodes Island get ‘photobombed’ by a passing Endangered Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis

Lastly, a media release in three languages was sent out by the ACAP Secretariat a few days before 19 June.  For archival purposes, all the many World Albatross Day posts for 2020 to ACAP Latest News from June 2019 to October 2020 have been grouped on the website here.

World Albatross Days in 2021 and 2022

Perhaps not surprisingly, after a year and a half of concerted effort inaugurating World Albatross Day on 19 June 2020, activities held for the next two years were relatively muted, with, sadly, no new competitions or challenges. The WAD logo was updated for both years and the valued collaboration with ABUN continued to support the two themes of “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries” in 2021 and “Climate Change” in 2022.

An initiative was choosing albatrosses to be featured each year with artworks and posters. In 2021 these were the Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena and the Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata, both Critically Endangered. In 2022 the Black-footed Albatross P. nigripes and the Laysan Albatross P. immutabilis were the chosen pair, referencing their risk to sea level rise as a consequence of climate change.

Collaborations with ABUN continued with a pleasing number of artworks being received for each year. Once again selections were made so that posters could be produced to join the series of WAD photo posters in the ACAP languages of English, French and Spanish. These can be found in albums on the ACAP Facebook page. ACAP Species Infographics in the three ACAP languages were produced for all four featured albatrosses, most of them marking World Albatross Day by the addition of the WAD logo, as well as that of the sponsoring body.  Once again media releases were prepared and sent out by the Secretariat to contacts, NGOs, ACAP Parties and their representatives, tRFMOs and more.

 
The Laysan Albatross (depicted here) along with the Black-footed Albatross were the two featured species for World Albatross Day 2022. Photograph by Hob Osterlund, poster design by Michelle Risi

2023 and the fourth World Albatross Day

This year marks the fourth World Albatross Day, and the last one I will lead on behalf the Albatross and Petrel Agreement. As before we produced updated logos, once more collaborated with ABUN (around 80 artworks, a collage and a music video), and made the usual posters. With Michelle Risi then being based on Aldabra in early 2023, ACAP’s new Communications Advisor Bree Forrer stepped into the breach to take change of the artwork and photo posters. Featured species for the year are the Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris and the Northern Royal Albatross D. sanfordi – along with the 2022 pair due to their exposure to plastic pollution. Sponsored infographics were again produced for the two new species, that for the Black-browed also in Portuguese, noting it is a regular visitor to Brazilian waters.

 
Reaching out to Brazil. The ACAP Species Infographic for the Black-browed Albatross also comes in Portuguese, poster design by Namo Niumim

The biggest innovation this year, perhaps, has been expanding the suite of languages for WAD logos and posters to include Portuguese and also, to mark the significance to albatross conservation of the activities of Asian high-seas fishery fleets, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and in Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

 
This World Albatross Day 2023 poster, one of a set of 12, is in Korean. It depicts a Black-footed Albatross and its chick. Photograph by Wieteke Holthuijsen, poster design by Bree Forrer

Thoughts on a way forward

For 2024’s World Albatross Day I will have stepped back and Bree Forrer will be taking the lead. A change in leadership gives an opportunity to consider ACAP’s continued role and what should be its primary audience in raising awareness of the conservation plight of the world’s 22 species of albatrosses. Whereas I see working to inform the concerned public should remain an important feature of World Albatross Day, I also see the need to work more closely with national authorities, fishery companies and with selected Regional Fishery Management Organisations, most importantly the five tRFMOs that manage high seas-fishing for tuna. ACAP’s recently updated communications strategy can inform the way forward in this regard.

Thought could also be given to working towards World Albatross Day being officially recognized by the United Nations. This is a rather complicated business that requires the support of a UN member to make a nomination. Nevertheless, I see it as a worthwhile aim that should not be allowed to slip too far down in the job jar. A first step might be preparing an Information Paper with a proposal to discuss at an upcoming meeting of the Advisory Committee.

An afterthought

After a year or two of World Albatross Days, I remember receiving an email that informed me as then ACAP’s Information Officer that World Albatross Day on 19 June was fast approaching and did ACAP know of it and what was it going to do. Rather than being disappointed that all our efforts had been apparently missed, I took heart that if the correspondent did not know it was ACAP’s initiative, then Michelle’s and my original idea that World Albatross Day should become a truly global event with its own impetus was coming to pass quite early on. This suggests that even without the Agreement taking the lead every year, the day has reached a level that it might well continue for years to come. Let’s hope so!

Acknowledgements

So many have helped ACAP over four years of World Albatross Days it is not practical to thank them all. However, I would like to single out Michelle Risi, Marine Apex Predator Research Unit, Nelson Mandela University and Kitty Harvill, Co-founder, Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature, for my especial thanks. Always good working with you both!

References:

ACAP 2019. Report of the Eleventh Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Florianópolis, Brazil, 13 - 17 May 2019. 57 pp.

Risi, M. & Cooper, J, 2019. A proposal for a World Albatross Day. AC11 Inf 05. 2 pp.

Secretariat 2023. ACAP communications strategy update. AC13 Inf 03. 10 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 18 June 2023