Bird-scaring lines (BSL) (pictured) are one of the mitigation measures implemented by New Zealand's squid trawl fishery. Photograph by Domingo Jimenez

Keith Reid (Ross Analytics Pty Ltd, Tasmania, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal, Emu – Austral Ornithology on the implementation of seabird bycatch mitigation measures in squid trawl fisheries in New Zealand.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Although there is an increasing awareness of the high rates of seabird bycatch in trawl fisheries globally, there is relatively limited implementation of effective mitigation measures. Seabirds that are attracted to the stern of the trawl vessel to feed on fish-waste can be drowned or injured when they collide with warps/cables or when they become entangled in nets. Managing fish-waste discharge (processing offal and discards) and limiting access to it by scaring birds have been identified as the most effective measures to reduce seabird mortality from collisions with warps. New Zealand’s arrow squid (Nototodarus spp.) trawl fishery occurs during the austral summer and autumn when there is significant overlap with large numbers of foraging seabirds due to the proximity of breeding areas. Regulations introduced by the New Zealand government in 2007 requiring the use of devices to reduce warp strikes and operational procedures to manage fish-waste were independently implemented by the fishing industry in 2007 with the support of fishery regulators. The rate of capture of albatrosses by warps decreased from a mean of 2.9 birds per 100 tows during the period 2003 to 2006 to a mean of 0.7 birds per 100 tows after 2007. Long-term ownership of squid fishery quota catalysed the proactive engagement of the industry and has been reflected in a positive cultural shift in the attitude of fishers towards managing the risk of the capture of seabirds. Multi-sector collaboration and engagement allowed for the translation of experimental mitigation results into long-term, industrial-scale operational practices.” 

Reference:

Keith Reid, G. Barry Baker & Richard Wells (2023) Mitigation of seabird bycatch in New Zealand squid trawl fisheries provides hope for ongoing solutions, Emu - Austral Ornithology, DOI: 10.1080/01584197.2023.2214580

30 June 2023

Manaaki, the Royal Cam chick for 2022/23 - a bit damp after rain – was officially named on 19 June, World Albatross Day

The small breeding colony of the globally Endangered and Nationally Vulnerable Northern Royal Albatrosses Diomedea sanfordi on the New Zealand mainland at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head is well known as a tourist sight and for its intensive management. Since the 2015/16 season, a 24-hour live-streaming camera operated by the Department of Conservation with the Cornell Lab for Ornithology has been focused on a breeding attempt from incubation through to fledging (click here).

For the current breeding season the camera has been aimed at a colour-banded pair (male - GLY, Green, Lime, Yellow, and female - L, Lime) who have previously raised two chicks. Their 2022/23 chick hatched on 20 January 2023 and identified as a male has been attracting the usual close attention from devoted followers via the live feed and Facebook pages.

Known as “Sweet Pea” on hatching, it has now been given the name Manaaki following a request for names and a public vote (click here). Suggested names had to be submitted with a photograph showing the person entering the name doing something to reduce plastic pollution. “This year's competition is about acting sustainably to reduce how much plastic ends up in our oceans. This also supports this year’s World Albatross Day theme of plastic pollution. The plastic that ends up in our oceans threatens our seabirds. They can be hurt by it, become entangled or mistake it for food for themselves or their chicks. Using less plastic in our daily lives reduces the amount that ends up in our oceans. So, no matter where you are in the world, you can help colonies like the Northern Royal Albatrosses at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head by using less plastic day to day. The action also had to be sustainable. This meant it needed to be a repeatable action, that would not create any negative impact on the environment.”

140 people submitted their name suggestions and 1169 people voted for their favourite from a short list of 10 names. “Manaaki”, which received the most votes at 209, is a te reo Māori word with the meaning of “providing support, protection, and hospitality and showing admiration and kindness”.

A close up view of Manaaki

If the Royal Cam is not showing much action (such as a parent visiting to feed its chick) you can also while away some time completing an online jigsaw entitled “Manaaki Works in the Grasses”. Choose the number of pieces from 24 to 300 to suit your available spare time and level of concentration!

Manaaki does a wing stretch; photographs from the New Zealand Department of Conservation

The most recent news is that on 20 June when 151 days old (from hatching) the Royal Cam chick was weighed at 11 kg, so quite chonky!

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 29 June 2023

A Buller’s Albatross Thalassarche bulleri gives the tour participants a good showing

Note: When ACAP Latest News read that a special World Albatross Day pelagic seabird tour would take place in New Zealand on 19 June it wasted no time in contacting the tour leader with a request for a write up and a few photos of the outing. The following guest article by Scott Brooks is the welcome outcome.

Participants on the World Albatross Day pelagic tour. Scott writes “I'm the bearded guy with the cap on the top left”

I’m Scott Brooks and I’m the founder of ‘The Petrel Station’ pelagic seabird tours and sightings research project, which operate offshore from Tutukaka in Northland, New Zealand. Naturally I had to have a seabird trip going out on the 19th of June to coincide with World Albatross Day to see what albatross, petrel and other seabird species we could see on the day, and also to help draw attention to the plight of these amazing seabirds as well as to show our support for the great work that ACAP is undertaking.

A Black-browed Albatross T. melanophris skids to a stop next to our vessel

When we headed out at sunrise on this winter’s day conditions were fine, with light 5-10 knot northerly winds, and a 1.2-m swell. The boat we use, named Hookie, takes nine people, plus me and the skipper, and we’re out on the water for the next 9 to 10 hours, which gives us a fantastic amount of time to enjoy the stunning seabirds. We head 40 km offshore out to The Petrel Station spot on the shelf edge where we spend about half the trip. Along the way we pass through three different habitat zones – shallower waters, the local breeding islands, and then the deeper waters out at the shelf edge. Each zone has its own range of seabirds and experiences.

Close up! A White-capped Albatross T. steadi approaches the boat

On the day we had four albatross species come in close to our vessel, soaring gracefully around us, and hanging out just off the back of the boat. They are always a treat to see and a privilege to be in their company. The albatrosses were all from the mollymawk genus Thalassarche: Black-browed, Buller's, Campbell and White-capped. We had hoped some of the great albatross species in the genus Diomedea would turn up but with the light winds it wasn't too surprising not to see them.

A rare sighting. A Soft-plumaged Petrel Pterodroma mollis

On the petrel front, a major highlight was a single Soft-plumaged Petrel, a species which is very rare to see this far north in New Zealand. We also had one Southern Macronectes giganteus and two Northern M. halli Giant Petrels (both ACAP-listed species), a Grey-faced Petrel Pterodroma gouldi, five New Zealand Storm Petrels Fregetta maoriana, approximately 700 Common Diving Petrels Pelecanoides urinatrix and some 15 500 Fairy Prions Pachyptila turtur. During the trip we saw 21 different seabird species and enjoyed watching nearly 18 000 stunning seabirds in total.

The seabird tours are being run in conjunction with a long-term pelagic seabird sighting research project which aims to identify distinct year-round and seasonal trends in the occurrence and diversity of all the seabird species present in the area (local, migratory and vagrant). It will also look for any variations occurring over the course of this the planned 15 or more years. Seabirds are an important indicator of the health of a marine ecosystem – currently many seabird species populations are declining as they are faced with a range of issues including commercial fishing (seabird bycatch and overfishing), climate change, warming oceans (which can alter where and when their preferred food supply is) and pollution and introduced pests at breeding sites. It’s important to gauge the diversity of seabird species that we currently have right now off our coast, and to monitor this long-term to get a better understanding of any future fluctuations in quantities and diversity of species present.

An adult Black-browed Albatross flies by the Hookie on World Albatross Day
All photographs by Scott Brooks

To date out at The Petrel Station we’ve seen 66 seabird species which total includes 10 albatross and 21 petrel species. To learn more about seabird tours and the seabird species we've seen, and to learn more about the sightings research project, check out The Petrel Station’s comprehensive website at www.thepetrelstation.nz. It also includes all the upcoming trip dates and other useful information. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and at www.youtube.com/@thepetrelstation. If you’re ever in New Zealand and interested in coming out on a pelagic seabird trip, do get in touch – it’s always a grand day out!

Scott Brooks, The Petrel Station Pelagic Seabird Tours, Tutukaka, New Zealand, 27 June 2023

Albatrosses and petrels are facing a conservation crisis with multiple threats putting pressure on their populations including fishing, pollution, predation from invasive species and habitat destruction.

(Images left to right): A drowned Wandering Albatross caught on a tuna longline hook, photograph by Graham Robertson; Laysan Albatrosses amongst plastic debris, photograph by Steven Siegel, Marine Photobank; A bloodied Light-mantled Albatross after being attacked by invasive mice, photograph by Peter Ryan; Seabirds flock to a trawler vessel, photograph by Southern Seabird Solutions Trust

The conservation crisis facing albatrosses and petrels, and actions to address the crisis dominated discussions at ACAP’s (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) recent Thirteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee (AC13) hosted by the United Kingdom in Edinburgh.

In his opening address to AC13 delegates, Dr Will Lockhart, Deputy Director, International Biodiversity and Wildlife, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) acknowledged the valuable efforts underway across the world to protect albatrosses and petrels but noted that many populations were still in deep crisis and there was more that could and should be done to conserve these iconic species.

During the week-long meeting, two key points emerged: the need to continue and strengthen engagement with fisheries management bodies, governments, and fishers to ensure full implementation of ACAP's Best Practice seabird bycatch mitigation measures, and the importance of communicating the conservation crisis facing albatrosses and petrels to all ACAP audiences.

In 2019 a conservation crisis for albatrosses and petrels was declared by ACAP’s Advisory Committee. Fishing activity, particularly by longline and trawl vessels, was identified as the greatest threat facing ACAP species. Each year thousands of albatrosses and petrels die through entanglements with fishing gear and swallowing baited hooks and drowning. 

These deaths continue despite the availability of ACAP’s Best Practice Advice (BPA) guidelines which recommend combinations of mitigation measures proven to reduce seabird bycatch. The Committee were pleased to note a growing number of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and other bodies have adopted several ACAP Best Practice measures, but urged for their implementation in full. 

AC13 discussed the importance of communicating not only the “how-to” for reducing seabird bycatch, but perhaps even more importantly, “the why”, to critical audiences who can have a positive impact on ACAP species populations. 

Tatiana Neves, Advisory Committee Vice Chair said:

“ACAP has been focusing its effort into researching and refining Best Practice Advice on fisheries bycatch mitigation measures, however with many ACAP species facing a dire future, it is now time to focus on communicating why  fisheries must implement these measures that are so crucial to their very survival”.

Other threats placing significant pressures on populations of ACAP species were also discussed at the meeting including land-based predators, habitat loss, climate change, disease and pollutants (including plastic). 

The Committee recognised the vast amount of work taking place globally to address these threats, and expressed its support in particular for the Mouse-Free Marion Project. This project is committed to eradicating the invasive mice population of South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island that prey on its seabirds, including eight ACAP-listed species. 

In response to the ongoing risks posed by H5N1 avian influenza, AC13 agreed to form an ACAP Avian Influenza Expert Group on epidemiology, disease risk assessment and management which will provide ongoing advice to the Agreement. ACAP’s online Guidelines for working with albatrosses and petrels during H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, will be updated as necessary when new information becomes available. 

The Committee noted that on 19 June 2024, ACAP will mark 20 years since the Agreement came into effect, offering an opportunity for ACAP to highlight key achievements such as the development of its Best Practice Advice for seabird bycatch mitigation, and reflect on the progress it has made towards conserving ACAP-listed species. 

The Thirteenth Meeting of the Advisory Committee was held 22 – 26 May 2023 with Dr Mike Double (Australia) as Chair and Tatiana Neves (Brazil) as Vice-chair. AC13 followed meetings of the Advisory Committee’s Working Groups on Seabird Bycatch (SBWG11) and Population and Conservation Status (PaCSWG7), and the first joint meeting of both Working Groups (Joint SBWG11/PaCSWG7)

AC13 was attended by ten of ACAP’s 13 Parties: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and Uruguay, with Ecuador, Norway and France unable to attend. In addition, three Range States, Canada, Namibia, and the United States of America (USA), and one APEC member economy, Chinese Taipei, participated as Observers. BirdLife International and Humane Society International (HSI) attended the meeting as Observers. 

The official meeting report is now available to download in English here, with French and Spanish translations to follow shortly.

Solutions are available: the implementation of ACAP’s seabird bycatch mitigation measures and conducting invasive species eradication and habitat restoration projects are examples of measures that can help conserve populations of ACAP-listed species. 

(Images left to right): Bird-scaring line adorned with streamers to deter seabirds from diving for the baited hooks of a long-line fishing vessel, photograph by Dima Gianuca; A bait bucket is loaded on Antipodes Island for its mouse eradication project, photograph by Keith Springer; A graphic from ACAP’s BPA Fact Sheet for Demersal & Pelagic Longline vessels: Night-setting; A fence to keep out invasive predators such as pigs, photograph by Pacific Rim Conservation

26 June 2023