Attendees at the 15th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee, Swakop Plaza Hotel, Swakopmund, Namibia, photograph by Wiesława Misiak

Wings reach over swells,
thirteen nations keep the watch,
the albatross glides

The AI-generated “HAIku” comes from the closing remarks of the AC15 Chair, Dr Michael Double

Following Thursday’s outing to Walvis Bay last week, the fifth day of the 15th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee (AC15) in Swakopmund, Namibia was allocated to adopting the final report.  The Secretariat had spent Thursday completing a draft for comment by the attending delegates and observers and by Friday morning a clean version was available for adoption.  In the event, the whole day was not required, and with the report adopted section by section under the Chair of Dr Michael Double, AC15 was wrapped up by the afternoon tea break.  Once Parties have signed off the final report, it will be posted to this website.

Antonella Carminati Woll (Argentina), Elisa Goya Sueyoshi (Peru), Helena Moreno Colera (Spain) and Patricia Pereira Serafini (Brazil) at an AC15 evening reception hosted by Namibia, photograph by John Cooper

During the week, Chief Officers who chair the Advisory Committee and convene the working groups were all re-elected.  Dr, Johannes Fischer (Department of Conservation, New Zealand) joined the existing officers as a Vice-Convenor of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG), following being nominated by the United Kingdom and seconded by Brazil.

Where the next meeting of the Advisory Committee should be held is always an important matter to decide before the end of the meeting.  Chile offered to host AC16 in August or September 2027, in Punta Arenas in Southern Patagonia.  The Advisory Committee thanked Chile and warmly welcomed the offer.  Advisor to Chile’s Delegation, Mr Luis Adasme (Instituto de fomento pesquero, IFOP), then showed a one-minute video entitled “Punta Arenas & Nature” to whet the attendees’ appetites.  A draft agenda for AC16 was reviewed by the Advisory Committee and will be forwarded to AC members for their consideration in advance of the meeting.

The Africa contingent at AC15.  Namibia’s Head of Delegation and meeting host, Ms Graça Bauleth D’Almeida, Director: Resources Management, Directorate: Marine Ecosystem and Fisheries Research, Namibia Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform, is in the centre in a white jacket, photograph by Makhudu Masotla

Following the formal adoption of the AC15 report, Michael Double closed the meeting with a vote of thanks to the Namibian hosts, also offering his thanks to his Vice Chair, Tatiana Neves (Brazil), all the Chief Officers, and the Secretariat.

Another AI effort by the Advisory Committee Chair, Dr Michael Double to accompany his closing remarks

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 08 June 2026

Delegates and observers to the 15th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee hold up a trawl bird scaring line at Walvis Trawl, Walvis Bay, Namibia, photograph by Makhudu Masotla

On Thursday 04 June delegates and observers attending the 15th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee (AC15) in Swakopmund, Namibia travelled to the nearby fishing town of Walvis Bay to make site visits to two businesses involved with the fishing industry.

Seawork's trawler, Victory

We first met up with Pierre le Roux, Sales and Marketing Manager for Seawork Fish Processors (Pty) Ltd in the fishing harbour who took us aboard one of his demersal hake trawlers, the Victory, which was getting ready for sea.  We visited the ship’s bridge in batches where Pierre explained how twin bird-scaring lines were deployed either side of the trawl and showed us how interactions with the nest or warps by birds (and seals and turtles) were logged.

Seawork Fish Processors specializes in the catching, value-adding and marketing of frozen seafood products for the international market.  The main product line is Hake Merluccius capensis/paradoxus, with Kingklip or Ling Genypterus capensis and Monkfish Lophius vomerinus as bycatch.

Trawl (back) and longline bird-scaring lines.  The orange traffic cones act as drags in the water, keeping the lines taught when deployed, photograph by Makhudu Masotla

Back on the bus for a short ride to Walvis Trawl Import and Export, where Titus Shaanika who was previously Leader, Albatross Task Force, Namibia Nature Foundation, showed us examples of bird-scaring lines for longliners and for trawlers.  We had fun unrolling one as the photos show!  The bird-scaring lines are made by the all-woman Meme Itumbapo Craft cooperative, which collaborates with the Albatross Task Force and Namibia Nature Foundation.

The women of Meme Itumbapo making bird-scaring lines, photograph from the Benguela Current Convention

Excursions at ACAP meetings usually take attendees out to sea to spot seabirds, or if an inland meeting, to a game reserve or the like to view wildlife and natural habitats.  This trip was different, but equally enjoyable, and perhaps more valuable as we got to see and handle the actual equipment that contiunues tosave so many seabirds, in Nambian waters, and elsewhere around the world.

Mandi Livesey (Australia) and Tatiana Neves (Brazil) ham it up with a dropper from a trawl bird-scaring line, photograph by Makhudu Masotla

With thanks to Pierre le Roux, Seawork Fish Processors and Titus Shaanika, Managing Director, West Pelican Investments.

References:

Da Rocha, N. et al. 2021.  Reduction in seabird mortality in Namibian fisheries following the introduction of bycatch regulation.  Biological Conservation 253, 108915.

Munro, A. 2021.  Namibian fishery reduces seabird deaths by 98%.  BirdLife International  07 January 2021.

Paterson, J.R.B. et al. 2017.  Seabird mortality in the Namibian demersal longline fishery and recommendations for best practice mitigation measures.  Oryx 53: 300-309.

Thomson, G.C., Shaanika, T., Matjila, S. & Paterson, J. 2021.  Gliding into a brighter future.  Albatrosses and Namibian fisheries.  Conservation Namibia, 09 September 2021.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 05 June 2026

Black Petrel, artwork by Helen Worthington for ABUN/ACAP Project #35 “Petrels in Peril” in 2021, after a photograph by Virginia Nicol

In May young Vulnerable Black Petrels Procellaria parkinsoni begun fledging, leaving their burrows on New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island/Aotea and Little Barrier Island/Te Hauturu-o-Toi and heading Pacific waters off Ecuador.

“In the largest Black Petrel tracking study ever undertaken, 47 fledglings are being fitted with live trackers to help researchers better understand one of the ocean’s enduring mysteries: why do fewer than 10% of black petrel chicks ever return home?”

Black Petrel off Mercury Islands, New Zealand, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

“The Tākoketai black petrel, is a taonga species endemic to New Zealand.  Each year, these ocean voyagers travel thousands of kilometres across the Pacific, yet return to breed on just two small islands in the Hauraki Gulf.  With fewer than 5,000 breeding pairs remaining, they face growing pressures at sea, from fisheries bycatch and climate change to light pollution and changing ocean conditions.  The ultimate goal is to chart a course for recovery and protection of this on the brink species, so that we might see their return to some former nesting sites right around the North Island.”

Read more about Black Petrel research and conservation, and follow the tracked birds here.

News from ‘Biz Bell’, Wildlife Management International.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 04 June 2026

Patricia Pereira Serafini, Richard Phillips and Marco Favero, Swakopmund, Namibia, photograph by Barry Baker

On the second day of the 15th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee (AC15) in Swakopmund, Namibia, the attending delegates and observers heard reports from two working groups and a joint meeting that had met the previous week.  With large agendas and many documents to consider, this article highlights one matter discussed by each meeting thought to be of particular interest to the interested public.,

The Report of the Ninth Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG9) was given by its Co-convenor Dr Patricia Pereira Serafini (Brazil).  Matters covered included population trends, IUCN Red List review, pollutants and marine debris, High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza, and climate change

South African delegates and observers Thando Cebekhulu, Azwianewi Makhado, Andrea Angel and Makhudu Masotla attending the ACAP meetings in Swakopmund, Namibia, May-June 2026, photograph by Barry Baker

Under agenda item 6.1 Updates on Management of Land-based Threats the Population and Conservation Status Working Group considered an update (PaCSWG9 Inf 05) on the “Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project” by Dr Azwianewi Makhado, Marine Top Predators Programme, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, South Africa and Dr Anton Wolfaardt, MFM Project Manager, which aims to eradicate invasive House Mice from Marion Island.  The update reports that field trials on the island have confirmed high bait palatability but have also identified strong seasonal variability in mouse abundance and bait uptake, leading to the ongoing refinement of baiting methods.  The eradication operation is currently planned to take place in 2029.

The Advisory Committee recognised the conservation importance of large-scale invasive species eradication programmes, such as on Marion Island.  On behalf of the Advisory Committee, its Chair, Dr Michael Double (Australia), confirmed its support of the MFM Project and wished it well.

Flesh-footed Shearwater at sea, photograph by Nathan Piesse

The outcomes of the Report of the Joint Thirteenth Meeting of the Seabird Bycatch Working Group and Ninth Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group were presented to the Advisory Committee by SBWG Co-convenors Tatiana Neves (Brazil) and Megan Tierney (UK).  Discussion took place on overlap of birds and at-sea threats, ACAP seabird bycatch mitigation best practice advice and coordination of activities relating to Regional Fisheries Management and Conservation Organisations (RFMCOs).

Under Agenda Item 6 Listing of Species on Annex One the joint meeting discussed the potential listing of the Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes on ACAP Annex 1 (AC15 Doc 18, presented by New Zealand, Australia and France), following its listing on Appendix II of the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS).  The Advisory Committee agreed to study the CMS listing proposal document and identify any additional information that should be included in a potential proposal for listing the shearwater on the Agreement’s Annex One, to bring forward to ACAP’s meetings in 2027.

The Advisory Committee also encouraged research to provide support to ACAP’s taxonomic approach of treating as full species three pairs of ACAP-listed taxa: Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris and Campbell Albatross T. impavida, White-capped Albatross T. steadi and Shy Albatross T. cauta, and Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus and Yelkouan Shearwater P. yelkouan.

Co-convenors of the Seabird Bycatch Working Group, Megan Tierney, Igor Debski, Sebastián Jiménez and Dimas Gianuca, Swakopmund, Namibia, photograph by Barry Baker

The afternoon was taken up with a discussion of the Report of the 13th Meeting of the Seabird Bycatch Working Group , delivered by its Co-convenor, Dr Sebastián Jiménez (Uruguay).  The working group meeting had taken account of 27 Documents and Information Papers, available online from here.  Subjects covered included ACAP’s best practice advice for mitigating seabird bycatch, artisanal and small-scale fisheries, and bycatch mitigation in demersal longline, pelagic longline, trawl and purse seine fisheries.

Under Agenda Item 11 Review of Status of Implementation of NPOA-Seabirds the Working Group congratulated South Africa for its production of an updated National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Seabirds (NPOA Seabirds II) to cover the period 2026 to 2030 (SBWG13 Inf 13).  The new plan builds on the country’s first NPOA Seabirds which dealt only with longline fisheries.  It aligns with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries, which supports the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.  The new version addresses all types of South African fisheries, including artisanal gill netting and beach seining.  It also includes South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion and Prince Edward Islands in the southern Indian Ocean with its ambit.

The collation and drafting of South Africa’s NPOA Seabirds II were undertaken by Sven Kerwath, Azwianewi Makhado, Makhudu Masotla, Gerhard Cilliers, Andrea Angel, Joannes de Goede, Peter Ryan and Larvika Singh.

References:

Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism [Cooper, J., Petersen, S. & Ryan, P.G.]  2008.  South African National Plan of Action for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries.  Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism.  32 pp.

Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. 2026. National Plan of Action II for the Conservation and Management of Seabirds in South African Fisheries 2026-2030.  Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.  36 pp.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses, 02 June 2026