Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

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Read about recent developments and findings in procellariiform science and conservation relevant to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels in ACAP Latest News.

Solving a human-wildlife conflict by translocating eggs: Laysan Albatrosses on Kauai

A translocated Laysan Albatross egg gets a new owner, photograph by Hob Osterlund

Eric Vanderwerf (Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA) and colleagues have reviewed the results of a foster egg translocation programme for Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis conducted on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in the open access journal Marine Ornithology.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“In the 1960s and 1970s, Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis colonized several sites in the Pacific from which they had been extirpated or had not been known to nest previously, including the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA, where they increased to become a bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH). To reduce their population at PMRF, albatross eggs were destroyed or removed as part of a BASH reduction program until 2005, when an alternate plan was devised by the Navy, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, in which eggs from PMRF were placed in foster nests at other colonies on Kaua‘i where the natural egg was infertile or had died. During 2009-2022, we placed 500 eggs from PMRF in foster nests on Kaua‘i and the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu. The egg viability rate in all colonies was 73% and varied among years. The hatching rate of foster eggs was 53%, fledging rate was 72%, and overall reproductive success was 38%, rates that were slightly lower than in natural eggs at the same sites. This project resulted in 189 fledged Laysan Albatross that otherwise would have died, and it helped solve a human-wildlife conflict. Several useful management techniques and egg translocation methods were developed during this project that can be used in similar projects with other seabirds.”

Click here for a related paper

Reference:

Vanderwerf, E.A., Young, L.C, Kohley, C.R., Behnke, J., Mcfarland, B., Finney, K., Osterlund, H., Murphy, J., Serota, A., Barnfield, L., Green, Y., Rogers, K.S. & Granholm, C. 2024. Long -term outcomes of a Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis foster egg translocation program. Marine Ornithology 52: 247-251.

01 October 2024

The Albatross and Petrel Agreement will revise its best-practice guidelines for the eradication of introduced mammals on islands

Light mantled Albatross Peter Ryan
This Near Threatened Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata chick did not survive night-time attacks by introduced House Mice on Marion Island, photograph by Peter Ryan

The 14th Meeting (AC14) of the international Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) was held in Lima, Peru over 12-16 August 2024. In considering the report of its Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG), which had met the previous week, the committee agreed that the ACAP best-practice Guidelines for Eradication of Introduced Mammals from Breeding Sites of ACAP-listed Seabirds, last updated in September 2019, should be reviewed in the light of new insights gained from recent attempts to eradicate House Mice Mus musculus from islands, noting particularly the failed eradications of House Mice on Gough Island and Sand Island, Midway Atoll. The Advisory Committee agreed to add this task to its Work Programme for 2023-2025 (AC 14 Doc. 22 and Annex 5 Task 2.9 of the AC14 report).

Participants of the Fourteenth Meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee in Lima, Peru. South Africa’s Member, Dr Azwianewi Makhado, is fourth from the right in the front row, photograph by the ACAP Secretariat

The AC14’s decision to undertake the review was informed by South Africa’s Information Paper (PaCSWG8 Inf 07) to the working group reporting on progress with the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project (click here) and a statement in its report (see AC14 6.10) from the United Kingdom to the working group that gave an update on the investigations by the Royal Society for the Protection of Bird’s Gough Island Restoration Programme into the recent failure to eradicate House Mice from that island.

A severely wounded Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross D. dabbenena chick after overnight attacks by House Mice on Gough Island, photograph by Karen Bourgeois/Sylvain Dromzee

South Africa, the United Kingdom and the USA, along with the PaCSWG and ACAP Science Officer, will participate in the planned review of the eradication guidelines during the intersessional period (AC 14 report Annex 6, Item 2.9). South Africa will input through its national member of the PaCSWG, Dr Azwianewi (Newi) Makhado (Oceans & Coasts, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment). The MFM Project will support Newi in this endeavour, thus helping ensure the guidelines take particular notice of the issues relating to the eradication of House Mice on islands, especially where they are the sole terrestrial predator and include seabirds in their diet, such as on Gough, Marion and Sand Island, Midway Atoll. The MFM Project’s ongoing field research on Marion Island, including its plans for an aerial-based bait trial in 2026, will help formulate the guideline’s recommendations for planned and future mouse-eradication projects.

References:

Advisory Committee, Secretariat 2024. Advisory Committee Work Programme 2023-2025. Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Lima, Peru, 12-16 August 2024. AC14 Doc 22. 15 pp.

Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels 2024. Report of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Lima, Peru, 14-16 August 2024. 92 pp.

Phillips, R.A. 2019. Guidelines for Eradication of Introduced Mammals from Breeding Sites of ACAP-listed seabirds. Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. 10 pp.

Population and Conservation Status Working Group 2024. Report of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group. Fourteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee, Lima, Peru, 12-16 August 2024. AC14 Doc 14 Rev 2. 41 pp.

Wolfaardt, A. & Makhado, A. 2024. An Update on the Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project. Eighth Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group, Lima, Peru, 9 August 2024. PaCSWG8 Inf 07. 3 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer. Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 30 September 2024

Island Invasives 2026, Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland | Aotearoa New Zealand, 9-13 February 2026

Invasives Conference 2026

Island Invasives 2026 Charting the Future will be the fourth conference in the Island Invasives series that commenced with the title “Turning the Tide: the Eradication of Island Invasives” in Auckland, New Zealand in 2001. The second and third conferences were held in Auckland in 2010 (“Island Invasives: Eradication and Management”) and in Dundee, Scotland ( “Island Invasives: Scaling up to meet the Challenge”) in 2017, respectively. The goal of the fourth conference, to be held once more in Auckland, from 9-13 February 2026, is stated to be knowledge transfer that enables accelerated uptake of eradication methods which will enhance biodiversity and the lives of people on islands around the world.

Lucy Smyth Goney chick2 26 May 2022 The problem: this Wandering Albatross chick has been attacked by Marion Island's introduced House Mice, photograph by Lucy Smyth, 22 May 2022, Read more at what is to be done at https://mousefreemarion.org/

“In February 2026, the conference returns to Auckland to celebrate its 25th anniversary. The conference continues its resolute focus on the complete eradication of invasive species of any taxa from islands or island-like bodies. Scholars and practitioners from around the world will convene to present on any aspect of this topic with their work published as peer-reviewed papers in the renowned conference proceeding series. Sponsors of the conference will have direct access to this global audience to promote their organisation and services.”

Auckland on North Island is New Zealand’s largest city, its CBD is dominated by the Sky Tower

Registration and submissions for Island Invasives 2026 open on 3 March 2025. To be on the mailing list for conference news click here.

27 September 2024

Brazil and ACAP strengthen conservation ties during ACAP liaison visit

Brazillian Roundtable Meeting August 2024 From left – right: João Luis Fernandino Ferreira - Specialized Technical Advisor from the Fisheries co-Management Department (DPES), Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change; Bráulio Ferreira de Souza Dias - Director of the Department of Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (DCBIO), Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change;Tatiana Neves, Vice-chair of ACAP’s Advisory Committee and CEO and founder of the conservation NGO Projeto Albatroz; ACAP Executive Secretary, Dr Christine Bogle; Leandro Magalhães Silva de Sousa - Secretary. Deputy Head of Biodiversity Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Krishna Barros Bonavides - Environmental Analyst from the Department of Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (DCBIO), Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change;Inez Varoto Correa - Environmental Analyst from the Office of International Affairs, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change; Gabriela Isa Rosendo Vieira Campos - Environmental Analyst from the Office of International Affairs, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change; Pedro Ricardo Alexandre de Albuquerque - Environmental Analyst from the Fisheries co-Management Department (DPES), Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change

The Executive Secretary of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), Dr Christine Bogle, recently visited Brazil as part of a series of liaison visits in South America, following the conclusion of ACAP’s meetings in Peru this August.

In the nation’s capital, Brasília, Christine engaged with key government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Fishing and Aquaculture and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change with the Department of Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (DCBIO), the Fisheries co-Management Department (DPES) and the Department of Oceans and Coastal Management. The meetings included a round table discussion, in which Tatiana Neves, Vice-chair of ACAP’s Advisory Committee (and CEO and founder of the conservation NGO Projeto Albatroz) also participated.

The meetings focused on the outcomes of the Fourteenth Meeting of ACAP’s Advisory Committee (AC14) in Peru, Brazil’s efforts to protect albatrosses and petrels, including its National Plan of Action for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, and the conservation and outreach work of the Petrobas sponsored NGO, Projeto Albatroz.

ACAP National Contact Point and Deputy Head of Biodiversity Division at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Leandro Magalhães Silva de Sousa, and Krishna Barros Bonavides from Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change said the ACAP Executive Secretary’s visit represented a significant step for Brazil to show national efforts in the conservation of albatrosses.

“The roundtable discussion provided a valuable opportunity to exchange information and learn about new initiatives among Brazilian stakeholders dedicated to the conservation of albatrosses and petrels. This reaffirmed the government´s commitment to implementing the Agreement in Brazil and underscored the importance seabird conservation efforts.”

This year is the 20th anniversary of the Agreement coming into force. During the round table meeting, Christine spoke about this significant milestone for ACAP, outlining the Agreement’s achievements over the twenty-year period as well as the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for ACAP. She also presented meeting participants with ACAP's 20^th Anniversary Booklet produced to mark the occasion.

“Brazil is an active ACAP Party committed to multilateral cooperation to protect albatrosses and petrels, including many that regularly visit Brazil’s coastal waters. I was pleased to meet the officials responsible for these endeavours,” said Dr Bogle.

Dr Bogle also visited ACAP Parties, Uruguay and Argentina as part of her schedule of liaison visits in South America in September.

25 September 2024

Bells ring in Dunedin today as the first Northern Royal Albatrosses return to Pukekura/Taiaroa Head for a new breeding season

YRK in flight over Pukekura/Taiaroa Head, 17 September 2024, photograph by Zach Barford

Today, the bells started ringing in Dunedin at 13h00 NZST on New Zealand’s South Island. In what has become an annual tradition, the city’s bells sound out from churches and schools to mark the return of a new season’s cohort of the biennial breeding Northern Royal Albatrosses Diomedea sanfordi in the nearby mainland colony at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head.

The first returnee of the Endangered albatross was sighted and photographed in flight around the colony headland on 17 September by colony guide Zach Barford. Identified by its yellow, red and black leg-mounted colour bands, “YRK”, a female, is described by The Royal Albatross Centre’s Facebook page as a “rather well-known bird which had previously featured as a former Royal Cam parent who raised [chicks] Atawhai in 2020 and Lilibet in 2022, both with her mate OGK [orange, green, black] who sadly went missing in June 2022. Having hatched in 1994 YRK is currently 30 years old and has successfully raised many chicks so far in her lifetime.”

Watch a video of the bell ringing within the centre today here. The 2022 ceremony was also covred by ACAP Latest News.

The 2024 Royal Cam chick in August, photograph by Laura Findlay

Other recent news from the colony is that the chick from the 2024 Royal Cam pair fledged on 23 September. It hatched on 23 January 2024 and so left the headland exactly eight months later (click here). The fledging has not as yet received its name, but you can still vote for one of 10 short-listed names (click here).

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 24 September 2024