Albatrosses and petrels throng to the net of a trawl vessel; photograph courtesy of Save our Seabirds

Two papers focused on the recent Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Standard Review have been published in the journal Marine Policy.  

Stephanie Good (Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter, UK) and colleagues’, “Adapting the Marine Stewardship Council risk-based framework to estimate impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes”, evaluates the effectiveness of the MSC's semi-quantitative Productivity Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) in assessing risk, particularly for species with limited data availability. By testing existing PSA frameworks and developing new taxa-specific PSAs, the study aims to provide more accurate and precautionary outcomes for these vulnerable taxa. 

Meanwhile, the second paper from Stephanie Good and colleagues, “Updating requirements for Endangered, Threatened and Protected species MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 to operationalise best practices”, addresses the requirements within the MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 concerning Endangered, Threatened, and Protected (ETP) species. Through a comprehensive review process, the paper outlines revised standards aimed at achieving greater consistency in the management of impacts on ETP species and aligning with global best practices. 

The papers’ abstracts follow:

• Adapting the Marine Stewardship Council risk-based framework to estimate impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes

“Information available on impacts of fisheries on target or bycatch species varies greatly, requiring development of risk assessment tools to determine potentially unacceptable levels. Seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes are particularly vulnerable given their extreme life histories, and data are often lacking on their populations or bycatch rates with which to quantify fisheries impacts. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) use a semi-quantitative Productivity Susceptibility Analysis (PSA) that is applicable to all species, target and non-target, to calculate risk of impact and to provide a score for relevant Performance Indicators for fisheries undertaking certification. The most recent MSC Fisheries Standard Review provided an opportunity to test the appropriateness of using this tool and whether it was sufficiently precautionary for seabirds, marine mammals and reptiles . The existing PSA was tested on a range of species and fisheries and reviewed in relation to literature on these species groups. New taxa-specific PSAs were produced and then reviewed by taxa-specific experts and other relevant stakeholders (e.g., assessors, fisheries managers, non-governmental conservation organizations). The conclusions of the Fishery Standard Review process were that the new taxa-specific PSAs were more appropriate than the existing PSA for assessing fisheries risk for seabirds, marine mammals and reptiles, and that, as intended, they resulted in precautionary outcomes. The taxa-specific PSAs provide useful tools for true data-deficient fisheries to assess relative risk of impact. Where some data are available, the MSC could consider developing or adapting other approaches to support robust and relevant risk assessments.” 

• Updating requirements for Endangered, Threatened and Protected species MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 to operationalise best practices

“Bycatch in fisheries is a key threat to non-target marine species, particularly for those species that have life histories with low productivity or poor conservation status. In this paper, the requirements of the new Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard (hereafter “the Standard”) are summarised relevant to Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species. This covers both how species are designated as ETP, and how performance of management is assessed with respect to ETP species, when scoring fisheries against the Standard. The process used to select these requirements is described, including a review of the requirements for earlier versions of the Standard and the scoring of these requirements in assessment reports for a selection of fisheries that have achieved MSC certification. The review identified a lack of consistency in the implementation of scoring guidelines, which was in part due to a lack of clarity in the requirements of the Standard. The revised Standard has been designed to achieve more consistent implementation of the requirements with respect to management of impacts on ETP species, and to align the requirements more closely with global best practice. The requirements may be used as a template for fisheries managers seeking to prioritise bycatch species for improved management and setting more specific and measurable objectives in relation to population status and minimising mortalities.”

References:

Good, S.D., Kate Dewar, K., Burns, P., Sainsbury, K., Phillips, R.A., Wallace, B.P., Fortuna, C., Udyawer, V., Robson, B., Melvin, E.F. and Currey, R.J.C. (2024) Adapting the Marine Stewardship Council risk-based framework to estimate impacts on seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and sea snakes. Marine Policy 163, 106118.

Good, S.D., McLennan, S., Gummery, M., Lent, R., Essingtone, T.E., Wallace, B.P., Phillips, R.A., Peatman, T., Baker, G.B., Reid, K. and Currey, R.J.C. (2024) Updating requirements for Endangered, Threatened and Protected species MSC Fisheries Standard v3.0 to operationalise best practices. Marine Policy 163, 106117.

15 May 2024

 The 7th International Albatross and Petrel Conference (IAPC7) will be held next week in the coastal city of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico over 20-26 May 2024.  An agenda and Abstracts of the plenaries and oral presentations are now available on the conference website, revealing a number of papers being offered on ACAP-listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters.  Titles and authors of 18 presentations to be made in a poster session during the evening of the 21st are also available on the IAPC7 website.

Many members of the broader ACAP community are listed as senior or co-authors of oral and poster presentations, including Christine Bogle, ACAP’s Executive Secretary, who will present a plenary on the 23rd with the title “20 years of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels”.  Other ACAP authors of oral presentations include Mike Double (ACAP Advisory Committee Chair), Tatiana Neves (ACAP Advisory Committee Vice-chair), Marco Favero, Patrícia Pereira Serafini and Richard Phillips (convenors, ACAP Population and Conservation Status Working Group) and Igor Debski, Dimas Gianuca and Sebastián Jiménez (convenors, ACAP Seabird Bycatch Group).

Patrícia Serafini is also co-leading a workshop on the afternoon of the 23rd titled “Q&A Session and Wet Lab Training for working with Albatrosses and Petrels during the on-going High Pathogenicity H5N1 Avian Influenza Outbreak” (click here for its description).  The workshop is being supported by the ACAP Secondment Programme.  It is to be a hybrid model, with interested persons not attending the IAPC7 being able to follow the workshop virtually.  Read more about the workshop in ACAP Latest News.
IAPC7 attendees will hear about efforts to create Mexico’s first breeding population of Black-footed Albatrosses Phoebastria nigripes (click here for the abstract)

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 14 May 2024

A Wedge-tailed Shearwater on D’Arros Island, photograph by Danielle Keys

Danielle Keys (Marine Apex Predator Research Unit, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa) and colleagues have published in the open-access journal, Marine Ornithology on the increasing numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica on a Seychelles island following eradication of Norway Rats Rattus norvegicus.

Danielle Keys burrow scopes a Wedgie burrow on on D’Arros Island, photograph by Clare Keating

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Invasive mammalian predators have devastating effects on seabird nesting colonies.  A census was conducted on breeding Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica in 2016 and 2021 on D’Arros Island, Seychelles, which has been rat-free since 2003.   Results were compared with an earlier population estimate to assess population growth following the rat eradication. Compared to counts in 2009, we estimated a 10-fold increase in breeding population size, with 2768 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2424–3112) and 2406 (95% CI 2143–2667) breeding pairs in 2016 and 2021, respectively.  While the estimated increase is partly attributable to differences in the timing of the conducted census between the two studies, we also observed an increase in the areal extent of the population, from 3.00 to 3.85 ha (0.0300–0.0385 km2), and an increase in nesting density.  Cumulatively, this indicates a true population increase.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater burrow entrances on on D’Arros Island, photograph by Danielle Keys

Reference:

Keys, D.Z., Bullock, R.W., Keating, C. & Pistorius, P.A. 2024.  Rapid increase in size of Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica colony following rat eradication.  Marine Ornithology 52: 149- 155.

13 May 2024

Big birdie!  Held by supporters, this freshly painted Short-tailed Albatross decoy (along with five more) is on its way back to Kure Atoll this month, photograph from the Facebook page of Hawaiian artist, Patrick Ching

Hawaiian artist, Patrick Ching who added the paint, writes “These life-sized decoys will help bring the live ones down to earth at Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll)”.  They were due to be shipped out on 8 May along with the summer field team who will install them in a central location on the atoll’s Green Island.  Watch a shore video of the artist adding the final touch here.

Ready for repainting: six Short-tailed Albatross decoys await the artist, photograph from the Facebook page of Hawaiian artist, Patrick Ching

This will not be the first time Short-tailed Albatross decoys have been deployed on Kure Atoll, the same six being reported as “recently installed” around the time of the 2014/15 breeding season.  They had faded exposed to all weathers and so had been returned to be repainted.

Kure Atoll’s latest arrival, No. 750, photograph by Sarah Donahue

Meanwhile, a Short-tailed Albatross “with phase 4 plumage” was photographed on Kure Atoll late last month (click here).  The bird carried both a metal and a white numbered plastic band (No. 750), which identified it as having come from Japan’s Torishima, the main home of the species.

The female-female Short-tailed Albatross pair on Kure Atoll in 2013, photograph by Cynthia Vanderlip

Starting in 2010 to at least 2018 a female-female Short-tailed Albatross pair laid two infertile eggs each season on Kure Atoll (click here).  One was metal banded with 13A-1456 as a chick on Torishima in 2000 (and was photographed on Kure in intermediate plumage in 2015).  The other in adult plumage was banded as a chick with 13A-0703 in 1993, also on Torishima.  Both birds were banded by Short-tailed Albatross doyen Hiroshi Hasegawa.  It is uncertain whether either bird has been back on on Kure since 2018, but their usual breeding site is not often visited, so they could have been missed if only making short visits..  From time to time single Short-tailed Albatrosses have been reported from Kure (click here).

With thanks to Cynthia Vanderlip for information.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 10 May 2024