ACAP Latest News

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.

Contact the ACAP Communications Advisor if you wish to have your news featured.

ACAP-listed Balearic Shearwaters help choose Portuguese MPAs

Jorge Pereira (MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the journal Ocean and Coastal Management on choosing marine protected areas (MPAs) off Portugal via at-sea surveys of seabirds, including the ACAP-listed and globally Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been established across all marine environments, though their coherence and effectiveness in protecting umbrella species remains unclear. We used a multi-model ensemble forecasting approach, on 8 years of at-sea censuses of 30 seabird species to identify candidate MPAs in the Portuguese coast, prioritizing important areas for their conservation based on their occurrence and distribution. We overlapped the outputs generated by the Ensemble Ecological Niche Models (EENMs) with layers representing important environmental stressors (fishing intensity, ship density and oil pollution risk), and calculated loss in conservation value using them as cost layers. Three key marine areas were identified along the Portuguese coast: For breeders, there was a key marine area encompassing the Tagus and Sado estuaries and Berlengas archipelago; for nonbreeders and migratory species two important areas were identified in the Northern and Southern coast. The key marine area identified in the Northern coast is characterized by high productivity and biodiversity, and can be affected by oil pollution from the refineries and the intensive ship traffic in this area. Also, the area identified in the Southern coast of Portugal for migratory seabirds overlaps extensively with areas of high fishing activity. Our results show that the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) established along the Portuguese coast protect more than a third of the areas that we prioritized for breeding species and the official MPAs near 65% of the same areas. In contrast, current IBAs and national legislation protect less than 4% of the coastal areas that we prioritize for non-breeding species in this study. Our study, combining multi-species distribution with environmental constraints induced by human activities, allowed us to assess the coherence of the Portuguese marine planning and identify candidate areas to join the Portuguese network of marine protected areas. Our results, employing data from annual at-sea surveys together with the human stressors known to affect the Portuguese coast, proved to be an extremely useful strategy to identify spatial conservation areas along the Portuguese coast as well as to access the adequacy and consistency of those areas. Despite the constraints of this demanding approach, we are confident that our study provides a reliable strategy to inform marine conservation efforts and management planning in similar coastal environments elsewhere, characterized by strong coastal upwelling movements.”

 

Balearic Shearwater at sea

With thanks to Susan Mvungi, Niven Librarian, FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town.

Reference:

Pereira, J.M., Krüger, L., Oliveira, N., Meirinho, A., Silva, A., Ramos, J.A. & Paiva, V.H. 2017. Using a multi-model ensemble forecasting approach to identify key marine protected areas for seabirds in the Portuguese coast. Ocean and Coastal Management 153: 98-107.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 January 2018

Two Black-browed Albatrosses and a Southern Giant Petrel seen in the South Atlantic daubed with red paint

Amanda Kuepfer, a scientific seabird observer based in the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas*, has reported to ACAP Latest News of her observations of three ACAP-listed seabirds at sea in the South Atlantic that had red paint on their plumage.

On 12 April 2017, while conducting seabird observations aboard a trawler targeting finfish in the South Atlantic at 60.52S, 50.69E, Amanda saw two Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris and one Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus that had been daubed with red paint. The three painted birds appeared to be in good condition and were actively feeding on discards consisting primarily of processing waste behind the trawler.

 

Two views of one of the two red-painted Black-browed Albatrosses

The red-painted Southern Giant Petrel

Photographs by Amanda Kuepfer

The paint, that looked to be of an identical type and shade, seemed to have been rather randomly applied, covering parts of the head, throat, breast, nape, back and upper wings of the birds. However, the similar head markings of the two birds photographed does suggest a deliberate act. The birds may have been splattered from a brush, or daubed by a long-handled paint roller while in the water close to a vessel at sea. Alternatively, the birds could have come aboard a ship somehow and the paint then applied before their release.

At the request of ACAP Latest News Yan Ropert-Coudert, Secretary of the SCAR Expert Group on Birds and Marine Mammals (EGBAMM), has commented on Amanda’s observations and photographs. He writes “probably not part of a study. Most of the painting marks on [study] birds are generally temporary (with marks being washed by seawater quickly) and would thus not be extremely useful if the purpose was to examine distribution”.

Incubating Shy Albatrosses T. cauta have been marked with a small daub of paint in one study in recent times (click here) but it seems permanent paint (and usually not red that resembles blood and so could attract predators) is little used nowadays as a marking tool when studying seabirds.

Future observations of painted seabirds, including albatrosses and petrels, in the Southern Ocean may be reported to EGBAMM. It would be intriguing, if any painted birds get caught in the future, to ascertain whether the applied paint is of a type used to paint vessels. The ultimate aim would be to discover who has applied the paint.

With thanks to Amanda Kuepfer and Yan Ropert-Coudert.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 January 2018

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

Offsetting wind farm deaths: Newell’s Shearwaters have commenced breeding in a protected site on the Hawaiian island of Maui

Globally Endangered Newell’s Shearwaters Puffinus newelli commenced breeding for the first time last year  within the Makamakaole Stream fenced sanctuary on Hawaii’s Maui Island. The predator-free enclosures were established in 2013 to keep out feral cats, rats and mongooses.

“For the first time in four years, Newell’s shearwaters have started laying eggs in an artificially created seabird colony in West Maui.  Biologists confirmed that four human-made burrow boxes - three with eggs - are being occupied by the threatened species this season”.

The two Makamakaole Stream fenced enclosures

Newell's Shearwaters at the entrance to an artificial burrow inside a Makamakaole Stream enclosure

Two predator-free enclosures were constructed near the Makamakaole Stream basin in 2012 and 2013 to offset accidental deaths of native seabirds by wind turbines at TerraForm Power’s Kaheawa wind energy facilities on Maui.

A Kaheawa wind farm on Maui

Photographs by TerraForm Power

Acoustic attraction has been used to attract prospecting shearwaters:

“Every night, seabird social calls similar to those at existing colonies were broadcast through weatherproof, solar-powered sound systems. Within the enclosures, biologists have installed 100 “burrow boxes.” The corrugated plastic burrows connect to underground plywood boxes that serve as nesting chambers, mimicking the birds’ own natural habitats. A 6-foot-high [1.8 m] mesh fence protects the enclosures, and “year-round intensive predator control” keeps the area clear of predators. The goal was to attract the shearwater and the endangered [in the USA] Hawaiian petrel to an area where both species had been assumed absent for more than a decade.”

Globally Vulnerable Hawaiian Petrels Pterodroma sandwichensis have "shown interest” but as yet have not bred within the enclosures.

“An estimated 16 [Hawaiian] petrels have been killed at the Kaheawa I site since it was permitted in 2006, and none at Kaheawa II since it was permitted in 2012, said Mitchell Craig, TerraForm’s compliance manager for its Habitat Conservation Plan. Biologists have not recorded any Newell’s shearwaters killed at either site. The total estimated take over the 20-year period is 31 petrels and zero shearwaters at Kaheawa I, and neither petrels nor shearwaters at Kaheawa II.”

Read more here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 January 2018

Detecting population declines from nest counts of Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses that skip breeding years could take decades

Victoria Bakker (Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Biological Conservation on the problem of using nests counts for population estimates when not all Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses breed annually.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Pelagic predators such as albatross have long been of conservation concern, but assessing their status poses numerous challenges. A standard monitoring method for albatross is colony-based nest counts to track numbers of breeders. However, a variable proportion of the population skips breeding in any given year and cannot be quantified by nest counts, creating several complications to efforts in understanding population dynamics. We used stochastic demographic matrix models for black-footed (Phoebastria nigripes) and Laysan (P. immutabilis) albatross to investigate: i) the potential for the skipping behavior of breeders to create apparent density dependence in nest counts, ii) the limitations to assessing population trends from nest counts and implications for evaluating impacts from fisheries bycatch, including calculating Potential Biological Removal values, and iii) the relative importance of at-sea versus on-island threats to population viability. We found the increased likelihood of these albatrosses skipping breeding following a successful season – a feature common to many seabirds and other taxa – results in substantial negative temporal auto-correlation in the observable population that can be misinterpreted as negative density dependence, with important implications for inferences about population viability. Black-footed albatross appear limited by fisheries bycatch, while Laysan albatross, which have low estimated bycatch mortality, are currently at greater risk from island-based threats. Our results suggest a cautionary approach to managing black-footed and Laysan albatross should be adopted because detecting population declines from nest counts could take decades. Ultimately, we highlight the inherent difficulties in assessing population status and trends in long-lived species such as albatross.”

 

Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses, photograph from the Kure Atoll Conservancy

Reference:

Bakker, V., Finkelstein, M.E., Doak, D.F., VanderWerf, E.A., Young, L.C., Arata, J.A., Sievert, P.R. & Vanderlip, C. 2018. The albatross of assessing and managing risk for long-lived pelagic seabirds. Biological Conservation 217: 83-95.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 January 2018

Canada releases a management plan for the Black-footed Albatross

The globally Near Threatened Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes is a non-breeding visitor to Canada’s Pacific waters, where it is at risk to mortalities caused by longline fishing. The albatross was listed as a species of Special Concern ("species at risk of becoming threatened or endangered"; roughly equivalent to a status of Near Threatened) by Canada in 2007 (click here). 

A final management plan has now been produced for the Black-footed Albatross in Canadian waters.

The plan’s executive summary follows:

“The Black-footed Albatross is a long-lived seabird that breeds mainly in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and occurs at sea off the Pacific Coast of Canada during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Significant numbers feed off the coast of British Columbia each year, including adults making long foraging trips to feed their young.

The population seems generally stable, but relatively high numbers are caught as bycatch in longline fisheries in the North Pacific. Additionally, adults and immature birds are affected by the accumulation of toxic chemicals and heavy metals and by the ingestion of waste plastics from the surface of the sea when they are feeding. Because of the unknown effect of these particular threats over the long term, the Black-footed Albatross has been listed as a species of Special Concern in Canada. Emerging threats such as the potential loss of nesting and foraging habitat due to climate change also threaten this species.

The management objective for the Black-footed Albatross is to “...help to increase global population numbers and maintain the population throughout its documented distribution in Canadian waters, by reducing at-sea mortality and otherwise augmenting international conservation efforts.” The conservation of the Black-footed Albatross cannot succeed by Canadian efforts alone due to the wide-ranging marine nature and distant nesting habitats of this species.

Actions already underway include long-term at-sea surveys that record Black-footed Albatross distribution and abundance in Canada, and assessments of longline bycatch mortality in Canadian Pacific waters, including monitoring of current bycatch levels. Bycatch mitigation measures have been implemented in the target fishing fleet, but monitoring for compliance and effectiveness is limited and should be increased. Strategies and measures to achieve the management objectives are presented in the section entitled Broad Strategies and Conservation Measures.”

Click here for an earlier report on the management plan in ACAP Latest News.

 

A colour-banded Black-footed Albatross at sea, photograph by Vicki Miller

With thanks to Ken Morgan.

Reference:

Environment and Climate Change Canada. 2017. Management Plan for the Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) in Canada. Species at Risk Act Management Plan Series. Ottawa: Environment and Climate Change Canada. iv + 30 pp.

Click here for the French text.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 January 2018

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

About ACAP

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Hobart TAS 7000
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Tel: +61 3 6165 6674