ACAP Conservation Guidelines

 
Seabird bycatch mitigation advice and guides

♦  ACAP review of seabird bycatch mitigation measures and summary advice for reducing the impact of fishing on seabirds

♦  Seabird Bycatch Mitigation Fact Sheets

♦  Seabird Bycatch Identification Guide

♦  Hook Removal from Seabirds Guide

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Light Pollution Guidelines - external resources

The Australian Department of the Environment and Energy in collaboration with the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has developed National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife including Marine Turtles, Seabirds and Migratory Shorebirds. The National Light Pollution Guidelines aim to raise awareness of the potential impacts of artificial light on wildlife and provide a framework for assessing and managing these impacts around susceptible listed wildlife.  Published January 2020.

Seabirds Landing on Ships - IAATO guidelines.  What to do if you find birds and how to prevent birds from landing on the ship.  Also available in Simplified Chinese:

海鸟登船 - IAATO野外操作手册.  发现鸟类该怎么办. 如何防止鸟类登船.

Guidelines for Ecologically Responsible Lighting.  Protecting the Nocturnal Environment of the Maltese Islands for Seabirds and Beyond. BirdLife Malta LIFE Arċipelagu Garnija Project. This Guideline aims to provide local councils, architects and developers with best practice guidelines for the design and assessment of sustainable, cost-effective and seabird friendly lighting.  Published July 2020. 

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Rehabilitation of Procellariiformes - external resource (in Portuguese)

Hurtado, R., Saviolli, J.Y. & Vanstreels, R.E.T. (Eds) 2020.  Reabilitação de Procellariiformes: (albatrozes, petréis, pardelas).  111 pp.  ISBN 978-85-8136-138-3.  See review in ACAP Latest News.

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pdf Guidelines for working with albatrosses and petrels during H5N1 avian influenza outbreak

Serafini, P.P.; Vanstreels, R.E.T.; Uhart, M.; Dewar, M.; Wille, M.; Roberts, L.; Black, J.; Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G.; Baker, H.; Michael, S.; Gartrell, B.; Gamble, A.; Younger, J.; Lopez, V.; Work, T. 2023. Guidelines for working with albatrosses and petrels during the high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 panzootic.

The ongoing panzootic wave of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1 started in 2021, and has since caused the death of millions of birds, having spread to five continents (as of 5 November 2023, only Oceania and mainland Antarctica remain free of the disease). While HPAI H5N1 has been recognized as a threat to the poultry industry since its emergence in 1996, a genetic shift occurred in 2021, resulting in an explosion of cases in wild birds, especially seabirds. Associated with this, there have been numerous, major mass mortality events, resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands of boobies, pelicans, terns, cormorants, cranes, geese, gannets, skuas and penguins in Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas.

First published July 2022, last updated 8 November 2023. 

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pdf Biosecurity guidelines

Wolfaardt A. 2020.  Biosecurity and quarantine guidelines for ACAP breeding sites. 

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidelines on biosecurity management for breeding sites of ACAP species, and to provide a selected bibliography and list of online resources. These guidelines should not be considered a substitute for obtaining appropriate and detailed advice from biosecurity experts.  First published August 2011, last updated March 2020.

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Tissue sampling guidelines following disease outbreak - external resource

Unusual animal mortalities, although rare, have been observed amongst Antarctic wildlife. It is always possible that such phenomena are caused by disease introduced or spread by humans. The Australian Antarctic Division has developed an Unusual Animal Mortality Response Plan [PDF] to provide guidance on what to do if sick or dead animals are discovered in unusually high numbers or with signs that suggest disease.

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pdf Eradication guidelines

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidelines to assist with the development of plans for the eradication of introduced vertebrates from breeding sites of ACAP species. These relate mainly to islands, but many of the same principles will apply to mainland sites. The paper should not be considered as a substitute for obtaining appropriate and detailed advice from eradication experts.  First published October 2009, last updated September 2019.

See also: Phillips, R.A. 2010. Eradications of invasive mammals from islands: why, where, how and what next? Emu 110: i-vii.

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pdf Census guidelines

Wolfaardt, A. and Phillips, R. 2020.  Guideline census methodologies for albatrosses and petrels

The purpose of this paper is to consider the available methods and provide guidelines to assist with the development and implementation of plans to census ACAP species. These guidelines cover both surface-nesting and burrow-nesting ACAP species. The paper should not be considered a substitute for obtaining appropriate and detailed advice from appropriate experts.  First published January 2013, last updated January 2020.

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Census Guidelines using drones or satellites – external resource

Attard, M.R.G.; Phillips, R.A.; Bowler, E.; Clarke, P.J.; Cubaynes, H.; Johnston, D.W.; Fretwell, P.T. 2024. Review of Satellite Remote Sensing and Unoccupied Aircraft Systems for Counting Wildlife on Land. Remote Sensing 16:627. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16040627

This review provides an introduction for wildlife biologists and managers relatively new to the field on how to implement remote-sensing techniques (satellite and unoccupied aircraft systems) for counting large vertebrates on land, including marine predators that return to land to breed, haul out or roost, to encourage wider application of these technological solutions.

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pdf Guidelines for designing burrowing petrel surveys

Parker, G. C. and Rexer-Huber, K. 2020. Guidelines for designing population surveys of burrowing petrels. 

First published March 2016, last updated January 2020.

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pdf The justification, design and implementation of Ecological Risk Assessments of the effects of fishing on seabirds

Small et al. 2013 - first published in Marine Policy and re-published here with permission. 

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pdf Translocation Guidelines

Jacobs, J., Deguchi, T., Perriman, L., Flint, E., Gummer, H., and Uhart, M. 2020. Guidelines for translocations of albatrosses and petrels.

First published March 2015, last updated February 2020.

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pdf Plastics sampling guidelines

Uhart, M., Gallo, L., and Pereira Serafini, P. 2020. Sampling guidelines to assess plastic ingestion in ACAP species.

These guidelines provide a standardized approach for sampling ACAP species to assess plastic ingestion (macro and microplastics, as well as chemical compounds) with an array of sample type choices that should enable collection in diverse settings.

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pdf Field collection protocols for DNA dietary analysis of seabird scats

McInnes, J. 2020.  Field collection protocols for DNA dietary analysis of seabird scats. 

First published December 2016, updated September 2020.

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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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