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The Pink-footed Shearwater Puffinus creatopus is endemic to Chile, breeding on only three islands: Robinson Crusoe and Santa Clara in the Juan Fernández Islands and Isla Mocha on the coast of Arauco Province.  It spends the austral winter in waters off the Pacific coasts of North America (USA and Canada).

Pink-footed Shearwater: endemic to Chile
Photograph by Peter Hodum

The species faces several threats at its breeding sites, including exploitation of chicks by the local community, and predation by rats, cats, dogs and coatis, resulting in losses of both eggs and chicks.  Like many seabirds, this species is also threatened by fisheries.

To learn more about the fishing fleets and their fishing gear, and to conduct surveys among fishers, Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto, Jeff Mangel and Valentina Colodro of the NGOs Pro Delphinus and Oikonos, advised by Jorge Azócar, researcher at the Chilean Institute for Fisheries Development (IFOP),visited eight Chilean fishing villages in the Biobio Region (Tirúa, Quidico, Lebú, Lota, Tome and Coliumo) as well as the port of Talcahuano.  This activity forms part of the "Conservation of the Pink-footed Shearwater" Project, which is jointly led by Oikonos and the American Bird Conservancy (ABC).

By interviewing artisanal fishers, other bycatch-susceptible species were listed, such as the Humboldt Penguin Spheniscus humboldti and sea lions and dolphins, and the types of fishing gear that result in the most bycatch were identified.

Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto of Pro Delphinus interviews artisanal fishers from Tirúa
Photograph courtesy of Jorge Azócar

These social surveys will continue throughout July and August on Isla Mocha, home to the Pink-footed Shearwater's largest-known breeding colony.

The Pink-footed Shearwater is categorized as Vulnerable (D2) in the BirdLife International and IUCN Red Data Lists and is also listed on Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention). Chile, at the 2011 meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee, announced its intention to proceed towards nominating the species to the Agreement, inter alia by preparing a draft Species Assessment text for consideration at the next Advisory Committee meeting, expected to be held in France in 2013. If listed, the Pink-footed Shearwater will be only the second shearwater included within the Agreement, following the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater P. mauretanicus of the Mediterranean which was listed this year (click here).

The information obtained from the fisher surveys will be incorporated into the draft Species Assessment text to be shared with the Albatross and Petrel Agreement in the coming months.

Click here to learn more about the Pink-footed Shearwater and to access existing national and international action plans for the species.

Jorge Azócar R., Highly Migratory Species Monitoring Program, Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, Chile & John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 July 2012