Charlotte Boyd (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, USA) has written a commentary in Animal Conservation on a previous publication on seabird bycatch in the journal.  She considers the best approach to mitigating seabird bycatch in commercial fisheries is one that includes incentives.

“Vessel owners will invest in new practices or technologies if they can increase their profits by doing so. The key to minimizing seabird by-catch in all fisheries is therefore to develop management frameworks that align fishers’ incentives with by-catch reduction targets.”

With thanks to Barry Baker for information.

At risk: Black-browed Albatrosses gather behind a South Atlantic trawler

Photograph by Graham Parker

References:

Boyd, C. 2014.  Minimizing seabird by-catch in industrial fisheries.  Animal Conservation doi:10.1111/acv.12179.

Maree, B.A., Wanless, R.M., Fairweather, T.P., Sullivan, B.J. & Yates, O. 2014.  Significant reductions in mortality of threatened seabirds in a South African trawl fishery.  Animal Conservation doi:10.1111/acv.12126.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 December 2014

Joaquim Branco (Centro de Ciências Tecnológicas da Terra e do Mar, Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Brazil) and colleagues have published in the Brazilian Journal of Biology on seabirds attracted to and killed by fishing vessels off Brazil.  Spectacled Procellaria conspicillata and White-chinned P. aequinoctialis Petrels, both ACAP-listed species, were reported killed in numbers by both gill nets and longlines.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The use of discarded fish over baited hooks used in longline fishery, and fish caught in gillnets, as a food source for gulls, albatrosses and petrels has been intensively studied in northern and southern oceans.  This study describes the occurrence and abundance of seabirds observed from 20 foreign vessels which operated during the period between July 2001 and May 2005, off the southeastern and southern Brazilian coast.   A total of 353,557 seabirds were observed; comprising eight families and 28 species. The most abundant species was Procellaria conspicillata followed by Daption capense, Puffinus gravis, Thalassarche melanophrys [sic] and Oceanites oceanicus.  Ten species of seabirds (392 individual birds) were incidentally captured in gillnets; and 122 birds (9 species) by longline hooks, with P. gravis, D. capense and Procellaria aequinoctialis having the largest capture rates.”

Spectacled Petrel at sea, photograph by Ross Wanless

Reference:

Branco, J.O., Fracasso, H.A.A., Pérez, J.A.A. & Rodrigues-Filho, J.L. 2014.  An assessment of oceanic seabird abundance and distribution off the southern Brazilian coast using observations obtained during deep-water fishing operations.  Brazilian Journal of Biology.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 December 2014

Eduardo Gallo-Cajiao (Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia) has written in the journal Pacific Conservation Biology on the need for “adaptive management” to reduce the potential for albatross mortality (12 species at risk) in an Australian trawl fishery.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“To examine the current management of trawl fisheries is important to ensure albatross mortality is not being overlooked.  By-catch of albatrosses in trawl fisheries occurs cryptically, which has hindered the development of conservation policy.  The implementation of tasked seabird observer programmes in trawl fisheries, nevertheless, has shown that albatross mortality can happen at threatening levels.  Consequently, mitigation measures have been developed and adopted in some trawl fisheries.  Despite this, some trawl fisheries lack clear policy in relation to albatross mortality.  In this context, I investigated the management of potential albatross mortality in a state trawl fishery, the New South Wales Ocean Trawl, in Australia.  I conducted a literature search and addressed a set of questions to the responsible management agency through questions on notice at the State Parliament of New South Wales to understand albatross interactions from a policy standpoint.  My results indicate that current policy neither encompasses albatross mortality nor is evidence-based.  However, the combination of characteristics of this fishery and its overlap with albatross occurrence, along with the reported albatross mortality from other trawl fisheries, may warrant the need to collect empirical evidence on potential albatross interactions.  Hence, the responsible management agency should take action according to legal obligations.  In this scenario, I recommend the implementation of a tasked seabird observer programme, collection of baseline data, and adoption of adaptive management by the examined fishery.  As uncertainty can hamper conservation efforts because management actions require evidence, it is imperative to fill current information gaps in this fishery.  Additionally, an improved understanding of albatross mortality from individual trawl fisheries across different fisheries management jurisdictions will enable the prioritization of conservation efforts of this avian taxon in an international and multi-gear fishing context.”

Albatrosses mass behind a trawler, photograph by Graham Parker

Reference:

Gallo-Cajiao, E. 2014.  Evidence is required to address potential albatross mortality in the New South Wales Ocean Trawl fishery.  Pacific Conservation Biology in press.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 19 December 2014

Michael Force (Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, California, USA) and colleagues have published in the journal Polar Biology on seabirds, including ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels, in the Drake Passage between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Drake Passage, extending from the southern tip of South America to the northern Antarctic Peninsula, is a dynamic oceanographic region with well-defined habitats delineated by the three strong frontal jets of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC).  Here, we describe seabird species distribution patterns across Drake Passage and test the hypothesis that species assemblages broadly reflect physical characteristics of the hydrographic fronts.  Strip-transect seabird surveys were conducted between Tierra del Fuego and the South Shetland Islands (700 km track line) during January–March (austral summer) over 14 years (48 crossings).  Locations of the latitudinally variable fronts were assessed using in situ shipboard data on sea surface temperature and salinity; areas of high variance were used to indicate frontal features.  We quantified five distinct species assemblages that correspond to biogeographic regions and relate to the positions of the Sub-Antarctic Front, Polar Front and ACC Southern Front.  Dense seabird concentrations coincided with regions characterized by highly variable sea surface temperature and salinity, suggesting that associated species assemblages reflect the mesoscale hydrographic surface as indicated by sea surface conditions.”

Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses in Antarctic waters, photograph by John Chardine

Reference:

Force,M.P., Santora, J.A., Reiss, C.S. & Loeb, V.L.  2014.  Seabird species assemblages reflect hydrographic and biogeographic zones within Drake Passage.  Polar Biology DOI 10.1007/s00300-014-1594-7.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 December 2014