The call for abstract submissions to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea’s Annual Science Conference is now open. A wide range of themes are covered in the conference program including a session on Managing fisheries bycatch of threatened species – which is described below: 

2023 ICES ASC session - Managing fisheries bycatch of threatened species
Fisheries targeting highly productive species can have profound impacts on co-occurring species also susceptible to capture that have long generation lengths, low fecundity and other life history traits that make them vulnerable to anthropogenic mortality. There has been increasing concern over the sustainability of bycatch mortality of marine megafauna given their vulnerability to exploitation, ecosystem-level cascading effects from declines in abundance and reduced population fitness from fisheries-induced evolution. There has also been increasing attention to risks from bycatch to food, nutrition and livelihood security.
 
The session’s presentations and discussion will cover priority topics in fisheries bycatch science and policy such as:

• Estimates of individual components of bycatch fishing mortality
• Population effects of bycatch removals
• Bycatch magnitude
• Sublethal effects of fishing on threatened species
• Estimates of bycatch through observer and electronic monitoring programs
• Explanatory predictors of catch and mortality rates of bycatch species
• Multispecies conflicts from bycatch mitigation methods
• Costs to economic viability, practicality and crew safety
• Principles for evidence-informed bycatch policy
• Applying a sequential mitigation hierarchy to manage bycatch
• Approaches to mitigate the catch and fishing mortality of bycatch species such as:
  • area-based management tools
  • gear technology to increase selectivity
  • input and output controls
  • international trade bans
  • minimized production and ghost fishing efficiency and duration of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear
  • management of fishing depth
  • fishing methods and gear designs to reduce pre-catch and at-vessel mortality rates
  • handling and release practices

• Performance of regional fisheries management organizations’ bycatch measures
• Bycatch measures of market-based programs such as the Marine Stewardship Council and Fisheries Improvement Projects
• Enabling environment conditions that affect compliance with bycatch measures
• Defining target and limit biological reference points for stocks of data-limited bycatch species
• Comprehensive harvest strategies for incidental bycatch species
• Offsets of residual bycatch losses through equivalent gains.

More information on the conference including session themes, and guidelines and instructions for the submission of abstracts can be found at the ICES website. The deadline for abstract submissions is 21 March 2023.

16 January 2023

The role of Managing Editor for Pacific Seabird Group’s (PSG) scientific journal, Marine Ornithology has opened.

The position operates with a high degree of independence and the successful candidate will have the opportunity to shape the future of the journal. The position is described below.
  
The Managing Editor: 

• Works with Editor-in-Chief, Dr. David Ainley, and the Book Review Editor to meet publishing deadlines and produce two issues per year.
• Assigns manuscripts to editorial staff, copy editors, and layout and design team.
• Keeps up to date with trends in publishing and facilitates the development of the journal to maintain its standing as a journal of choice for seabird researchers.
• Assesses journal  progress by keeping track of the topics covered, the nationalities of authors, number of words published annually, etc.
• Provides a liaison among the Editor-in-Chief, copy editors, the layout and design team, and Online and Book Review Editors.
• May provide editorial functions to improve papers, as needed.  
• Manages finances and budget projections with assistance of the PSG Treasurer.
• Communicates with PSG Executive Council: provides a brief annual report on finances and requests for funding as needed, issues or challenges facing the journal, and an annual publications summary. 
• Handles an average of 40 manuscripts per year. 
• Commits an average of 15-25 hours per month. 
• Collects an honorarium of $3,000/year (this amount may increase in future).

Candidate profile/skills and qualifications:

• An independent self-starter and team leader
• Advanced degree in a related field, or commensurate experience
• A record of publishing in your area of expertise
• Strong organizational skills and an interest in the field of scientific publishing
• Previous experience in science publishing and/or not-for-profit management an asset

For more information please contact:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

13 January 2023

The Black-browed Albatross of Grey-headed Albatross Ridge loafing on an empty nest, January 2014; photograph by Kim Stevens

Sub-Antarctic Marion Island in the southern Indian Oceans supports significant breeding populations of four albatross species – the Wandering Diomedea exulans, Grey-headed Thalassarche chrysostoma, Light-mantled Phoebetria palpebrata and Sooty Albatross P. fusca.  In addition to these, two other species of albatrosses have been seen ashore on the island – Black-Browed T. melanophris and Indian Yellow-nosed T. carteri.  The latter species has occasionally been seen ashore over the years, as either adults or fledglings, all thought to have come from the nearby breeding colony on Prince Edward Island (click here).  The former, in contrast, is represented by only two individuals, one of a bird that bred several times, as summarized below.

The first Black-browed Albatross gets a colour band red H53 in 2006, photograph by Michelle Thompson

The first Black-browed Albatross recorded ashore on Marion was seen on Grey-headed Albatross Ridge in 2000; it was metal banded as 9A-16339 on 2 December that year.  A plastic colour band (red H53) was added in 2006.  Identified genetically as a female, it attempted breeding at least four times between 2000 and 2009 with a Grey-headed Albatross.  The social partner seen at the nest was also colour banded, as red H54, in 2006.  The pair successfully fledged a chick in the 2006/07 season which was metal banded before it fledged, allowing it to be identified when it returned to the colony nine and 11 years later in 2016 and 2018.  The other three breeding attempts failed at the egg stage.  The Black-browed Albatross’ partner red H54 was last seen in 2008.

The 2006/07 hybrid chick returns to occupy a nest site, photograph taken on 1 February 2018 by Christopher Jones

Genetic testing of the chick revealed it to be the hybrid offspring of the Black-browed Albatross and a different Grey-headed Albatross – not its social partner red H54.  Intriguingly, a different but similar-looking hybrid was seen near the mixed pair’s breeding site in 2017, raising the possibility that the Black-browed Albatross had bred successfully with a Grey-headed Albatross more than once.

The Black-browed Albatross was seen loafing near its nest site in most breeding seasons on Grey-headed Albatross Ridge from 2009 until 2020, with no further breeding attempts having been recorded since that of 2008/09.  To date, repeated searches for the bird during the current (2022/23) breeding season have met with no success.

The second Black-browed Albatross on Marion Island.  Above Ship’s Cove on 29 October 2008, photograph by Linda Clokie

A second adult Black-browed Albatross was photographed on the cliff top above Ship’s Cove on Marion’s north-east coast on 29 October 2008.  The bird appeared to be associating with several Sooty Albatrosses.  This record has not been previously published.  The closest regular breeding site of the Black-browed Albatross is on the Crozet Islands, some 950 km to the east, where the species breeds in mixed colonies with Grey-headed Albatrosses.

The Ship’s Cove Black-browed Albatross was seen close to several Sooty Albatrosses resting on the cliff top, photograph by Linda Clokie

All avian research on Marion Island is conducted by experienced ornithologists under a research permit issued in terms of the island’s management plan and with ethics approval.

With thanks to Linda Clokie, Maëlle Connan, Bruce Dyer, Chris Jones, Danielle Keys, Lucy Smyth, Michelle Thompson and Eleanor Weideman for their photographs and information.

Selected Publications:

Jones, M.G.W., Techow, N.M.S., Risi, M.M., Jones, C.W., Hagens, Q.A., Taylor, F. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Hybridization and cuckoldry between black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses.  Antarctic Science 32-10-14.

Phillips, R.A., Cooper, J. & Burg, T.M. 2018.  Breeding‐site vagrancy and hybridization in albatross.  Ibis 160: 907-913.

Ryan, P.G., Jones, M.G.W., Dyer, B.M., Upfold, L. & Crawford, R.J.M. 2009.  Recent population estimates and trends in numbers of albatrosses and giant petrels breeding at the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands.  African Journal of Marine Science 31: 409-417.

Weimerskirch, H., Jouventin, P. & Stahl, J.C. 1986.  Comparative ecology of the six albatross species breeding in the Crozet Islands.  Ibis 128: 195-213.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels & Kim Stevens, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 12 January 2023

A Wandering Albatross incubating an egg on the nest; photograph by Alexis Wandering

Fionnuala R. McCully (School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK) and colleagues have published open access in Ecology and Evolution on the influence of Wandering Albatross pair members’ traits in foraging behaviour.

The abstract follows:

“Long-lived monogamous species gain long-term fitness benefits by equalizing effort during biparental care. For example, many seabird species coordinate care by matching foraging trip durations within pairs. Age affects coordination in some seabird species; however, the impact of other intrinsic traits, including personality, on potential intraspecific variation in coordination strength is less well understood. The impacts of pair members' intrinsic traits on trip duration and coordination strength were investigated using data from saltwater immersion loggers deployed on 71 pairs of wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans. These were modeled against pair members' age, boldness, and their partner's previous trip duration. At the population level, the birds exhibited some coordination of parental care that was of equal strength during incubation and chick-brooding. However, there was low variation in coordination between pairs and coordination strength was unaffected by the birds' boldness or age in either breeding stage. Surprisingly, during incubation, foraging trip duration was mainly driven by partner traits, as birds which were paired to older and bolder partners took shorter trips. During chick-brooding, shorter foraging trips were associated with greater boldness in focal birds and their partners, but age had no effect. These results suggest that an individual's assessment of their partner's capacity or willingness to provide care may be a major driver of trip duration, thereby highlighting the importance of accounting for pair behavior when studying parental care strategies.”

Reference:

McCully, F.R., Weimerskirch, H., Cornell, S. J., Hatchwell, B. J., Cairo, M., & Patrick, S.C. 2022 . Partner intrinsic characteristics influence foraging trip duration, but not coordination of care in wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans. Ecology and Evolution 12, e9621. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9621

11 January 2023