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Is recreational fishing a threat to albatrosses and petrels?

It is very well known that albatrosses and the larger petrels and shearwaters fall prey to commercial longline and trawl fisheries in many of the World's oceans and seas.  Less well known is what effects non-commercial, recreational fishing may have on seabirds, including those species listed within the Albatross and Petrel Agreement.

Numerous records exist of gulls and terns caught on rod and hand lines, or found entangled in fishing lines discarded or lost from shore and boats. Pelecaniform seabirds (cormorants, pelicans, gannets and boobies) also fall prey to becoming entangled in recreational fishing line and swallowing hooks.  But what of the more offshore-foraging procellariiforms?

Edward Abraham and colleagues of Dragonfly Science, Wellington, New Zealand published a review in 2010 of what goes on in New Zealand non-commercial fisheries.

They report the ACAP-listed Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni, as well as Flesh-footed Puffinus carnepeis and most commonly Sooty P. griseus Shearwaters killed by either entanglement or hook-swallowing from recreational fishing.  Hutton's P. huttoni and Fluttering P. gavia Shearwaters have also been drowned in (presumably non-commercial) set nets.  Only a few albatrosses (not identified to species) were reported hooked or entangled in the review.

Following on from this review the New Zealand-based Southern Seabird Solutions Trust has been looking into the issue as it sets out in its report to next month's Fourth Session of the Meeting of Parties to ACAP, providing more information for the Black Petrel.


Black Petrel. Courtesy of the New Zealand Department of Conservation

 

"Until recently, little effort has been put into understanding the impact of recreational fishing on New Zealand seabirds.  A recent report by Abraham et al. (2010) estimates that recreational fishers in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand alone may capture 11 500 (95% c.i.: 6600 to 17 200) seabirds per year.  A significant percentage of these seabirds are likely to be released alive.  However, this is a foraging area for black petrels (Procellaria parkinsoni), New Zealand's highest risk seabird.  Two black petrels have been found dead at the colony on Great Barrier Island with recreational fishing hooks and lines in their stomachs, and one live bird tangled in fishing line (E. Bell pers. comm. 2011).  This information as well as anecdotal reports from recreational fishers has prompted the Trust to initiate an education and awareness-raising programme with recreational fishers."
Time for a global review?

ACAP Latest News will be pleased to publish further accounts of the effects of recreational/non-commercial fishing on albatrosses and petrels: contact ACAP's Information Officer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Reference:

Abraham, E.R., Berkenbusch, K.N. & Richard, Y.  2010.  The capture of seabirds and marine mammals in New Zealand non-commercial fisheries.  New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 64.  52 pp.

Southern Seabird Solutions Trust 2012.  Initiatives of Southern Seabird Solutions Trust.  MoP4 Inf 07.  5 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 6 March 2012


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.

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