Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses occur regularly in Namibian waters, where they are risk to being caught as bycatch by fisheries, photograph by Laurie Smaglick Johnson

Two weeks of meetings of the Albatross and Petrel Agreement commence today in Swakopmund, Namibia.  Day One kicks off with the Ninth Meeting of the Population and Conservation Status Working Group (PaCSWG9) under the Convenorship of Mark Favero (Argentina), Patricia Serafini (Brazil) and Richard Phillips (UK).  The list of the current 33 PaCSWG members and their affiliations can be viewed here.

The one-day meeting will consider eight Documents and 19 Information Papers.  Note some of these documents are only publicly available as summaries.  According to the meeting’s Draft Agenda, subjects to be discussed include Updates on Species Assessments, Population Status and Trends, and Threats (including management of land-based threats, pollution, climate change and High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza).  The meeting will conclude with a review of the working group’s work programme for the period 2026-2028.

The PaCSWG will produce a written report of its deliberations which will tabled for discussion and adoption by the Fifteenth Meeting of ACAP’s Advisory Committee (AC15) during Week Two of the Swakopmund events, to be held from Monday 1 to Friday 5 June in the Swakopmund Plaza Hotel.

The meeting of PaCSWG9 will be followed by a joint SBWG13/PaCSWG9 meeting held on Tuesday 26 May to discuss cross-cutting issues and a three-day meeting of the Seabird Bycatch Working Group (SBWG13, 27-29 May).

More information on the Namibian meetings is available in three AC15 Meeting Circulars. Terms of Reference for the Population and Conservation Status Working Group can be read from here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses, 25 May 2026

Today is the International Day of Biodiversity (IDB).  Proclaimed by the United Nations to raise awareness of the value of life on Earth, the day serves as a global reminder of the need to safeguard biodiversity and protect the ecosystems that support human well-being.  The day is coordinated by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the international legal instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources.

The 2026 edition of the IDB has the theme “Acting locally for global impact, Des actions locales à l’impact mondial, Acción local para un impacto mundial”. This fits well with Albatross and Petrel Agreement’s theme for World Albatross Day on 19 June 2026 of “Habitat Restoration”, exemplified by civil society, non-profit organizations and national, regional and local government bodies combining their resources to eradicate alien predators on islands, such as the current projects directed at New Zealand’s Auckland Island and South Africa’s Marion Island.  A second example related to the WAD2026 theme is of NGOs and non profits working with government authorities to create new breeding colonies of albatrosses and petrels, often protected by predator-proof fences, on inhabited Hawaiian Islands and on Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.

A translocated Black-footed Albatross chick close to fledging gets in some exercise next to a guano-splattered adult decoy on Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, photograph by J.A. Soriano, Conservación de Islas

These, and other activities related to the conservation of albatrosses and petrels, will be featured at the 15th Meeting of ACAP’s Advisory Committee and meetings of its Population & Conservation Status and Seabird Bycatch Working Groups in Swakopmund, Namibia over the next two weeks.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 22 May 2026

Buller's Albatross, oil on canvas, by Brett Jarrett

Imogen Foote (School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) and colleagues have published in the New Zealand Journal of Zoology on identifying seabird bycatch with genetic markers.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Fisheries bycatch mortality is a significant threat facing seabirds worldwide.  Yet, understanding which species are most impacted is hindered by uncertainties when identifying bycatch specimens.  Birds can be damaged by fishing gear and closely related seabird taxa can have overlapping traits, presenting challenges for identification based on morphology and plumage.  Here, we have developed a genetic method for identifying seabirds at risk from bycatch in Aotearoa New Zealand across 36 species including albatrosses, storm petrels, petrels, shags, and penguins.  Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) analysis enabled identification of all taxa to the genus level, and 75% to the species level.  All but one species (Salvin's albatross, Thalassarche salvini) that could not be successfully identified using COI could be distinguished from their more highly variable mitochondrial control region sequences.  Subspecies of Cape petrel (Daption capense capense/D. c. australe), Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis/D. a. gibsoni), and Buller's albatross (T. bulleri bulleri/T. b. platei) could not be distinguished using either of these loci so will require development of more highly discriminating markers.  Our methodology will be a valuable complement to the current formal identification process of seabird bycatch in South Pacific fisheries, helping to inform future fisheries management and seabird conservation.”

Reference:

Foote, I., Chambers, G.K., Rawlence, N.J. & Ritchie, P.A. 2026.  Using genetic markers to identify seabirds caught in Aotearoa New Zealand fisheries.  New Zealand Journal of Zoology 53 e70020. doi.org/10.1002/njz2.70020.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 21 May 2026

Collage poster design for ABUN Project #52 “Habitat Restoration” by ABUN Co-founder Kitty Harvill

The international collective Artists and Biologists for Nature (ABUN) has contributed to the conservation of ACAP-listed species every year since 2020 by running an annual project for which contributing artists produce artworks to mark World Albatross Day on 19 June.  Over the seven years no less than 760 artworks illustrating all 31 ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels have been created, using photographs made available by ACAP supporters to act as inspiration.

For this year’s project, ABUN’s 52nd, artists were requested to produce works featuring the Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos, endemic to the Tristan da Cunha islands, part of the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic, and the Vulnerable Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita, endemic to The Pyramid, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

ABUN's Project #52, which commenced on 16 February and ran to 03 May, has been in support of the World Albatross Day theme for 2026 of “Habitat Restoration”.  It has resulted in 64 artworks by 37 artists, including several who produced more than one work.  They will be used by ACAP to support “WAD2026” until the actual day on 19 June – and thereafter.

Kitty Harvill with “Dreaming of Gough”, her painting in acrylics on canvas of a close-up of the head of an Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross for ABUN Project #52.  Gough Island where the species breeds, is reflected in the bird’s eye, after a photograph by Chris Jones

To round off the project, ABUN Co-founder Kitty Harvill has produced a collage poster depicting all the artworks created to support WAD2026.  The poster and the artworks themselves may be viewed and downloaded from a photo album on ACAP’s Facebook page.  Five of them have been chosen to be made into posters that will become available for downloading from this website between now and World Albatross Day.

Habitat Restoration in action.  An adult Laysan Albatross (at the rear) has been attracted to visit the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on the Hawaiian island of Oahu by the presence of two decoys and a speaker broadcasting calls within a predator-proof fence.  Photograph by Lindsay Young, Pacific Rim Conservation

The WAD2026 theme of Habitat Restoration includes such management activities as eradication or control of introduced plants and animals at breeding sites, provision and maintenance of predator-proof fences, establishment of new breeding colonies by attraction techniques such as use of decoys and sound systems and translocations of eggs and chicks, candling and substituting infertile with fertile eggs, placement of artificial nests, supplementary feeding and hydration of chicks and adults, artificial incubation during hatching, and the use of artificial nests, wind breaks, fly repellents and sprinkler systems to improve breeding success.  You can search for projects among over 850 that utilize such management activities on the Seabird Restoration Data Base.

ACAP’s logo for World Albatross Day 2026 is available in landscape and portrait versions in the ACAP official languages of English, French and Spanish, as well as in Portuguese.  Designed by Namo Niumim, they are available for downloading here

The WAD2026 theme follows on from the inaugural theme “Eradicating Island Pests” in 2020, “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries” in 2021, “Climate Change” in 2022, “Plastic Pollution” in 2023, Marine Protected Areas” in 2024 and “Effects of Disease” in 2025, all of which have been supported by ABUN Projects.

With grateful thanks to ABUN Co-founder, Kitty Harvill and to all the artists and photographers who have contributed to Project #52.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 20 May 2026