James Russell (University of Auckland, New Zealand) and colleagues have published a Department of Conservation report that summarizes field work undertaken last summer on New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Auckland Island preparatory to an attempt to eradicate House Mice Mus musculus.

The report’s abstract follows:

“Auckland Island is the last of the New Zealand subantarctic islands to have introduced mammals, including pigs (Sus scrofa), cats (Felis catus) and mice (Mus musculus), and its large size makes mouse eradication logistically challenging.  Therefore, it has been suggested that a lower bait sowing rate than is typically used for island rodent eradications should be applied and that eradication should be undertaken during summer, despite this being the rodent breeding season and alternative food being more readily available . In February 2019, we evaluated the effectiveness of this proposal by applying 4 kg/ha of non-toxic cereal bait containing the fluorescent dye pyranine across Falla Peninsula, Auckland Island, and trapping mice for 7 days using 13 live and kill trapping grids to determine their population status, density, home range size and bait uptake.  In addition, bait availability was concurrently monitored along 30 transects.  Mice were initially neophobic towards the trapping devices and thereafter were captured at low rates across both trap types.  Mouse density varied greatly across the grids (range = 26.4–105.6 mice/ha) and was independent of habitat type, and the home range radius of mice was estimated to be 34 m, although this was based on only one grid in coastal forest, where there was a medium density of mice.  Bait was still available on the ground in a potentially palatable condition at a density of > 1.2 kg/ha at 9 nights after bait application.  Only 2 of 232 mice (< 1%) that were caught within the treatment area showed no evidence of consuming bait, both of which were very small juveniles caught in tussock grassland.  Therefore, we believe they would have been vulnerable to a second application of bait approximately 4 weeks later once they were mature.”

Loading non-toxic, biomarker-laced mouse bait on Auckland Island, photograph by Finlay Cox

Read a popular account of the field work and an earlier ALN post.

Check outr a "story map" on the whole of the summer field work: looks positive for an eradication to go ahead!

Reference:

Russell, J.C., Griffiths, R., Bannister, W.M., Le Lievre, M.E., Cox, F.S. & Horn, S.R. 2019.  Mouse bait uptake and availability trials on Falla Peninsula, Auckland Island.  DOC Research and Development Series 363.  Wellington: Department of Conservation.  11 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 December 2019

SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves) is the national partner of BirdLife International in Portugal.  Ana Almeida is SPEA’s Marine Conservation Officer.  She wrote last month to ACAP Latest News describing trials of a new device to reduce seabird bycatch in fisheries: “we have first trialled the scary bird device (kite) in purse seiners, around a designated area for birds (Berlengas SPA [Special Protection Area]) and it showed positive results in decreasing interactions between birds and the boat/gear, especially for gulls.  The kite was attached to the main mast and not used all the time, to avoid habituation.  These first trials were taken under LIFE Berlengas Project.  This project is now reaching an end and we are finalizing reports and soon we will be submitting a paper with some of the obtained results.  Currently, we have a new project (MedAves Pesca) in the same area, to continue trialling mitigation measures for seabird bycatch.  We are now testing the scary bird device in longliners and gillnets."

The bird kite is flown above a purse seiner

Testing the kite with a long liner ...

... and with a gill net

Photographs by Elisabete Silva

More information on the 2018-2020 MedAves Pesca project edited from text in Portuguese from SPEA’s website comes courtesy of Google Translate:

“Bycatch of seabirds by fishing vessels is currently a major conservation issue worldwide and is often cited as one of the causes that has led to population declines of different species of seabirds.  The most recent estimates point to about 200,000 accidentally caught birds per year in European waters alone.

These incidental catches also have negative impacts on fishers, consuming too much crew time and damaging fishing gear.  It is therefore essential to establish partnerships between the fishing industry and the scientific community to find joint solutions.

Pioneering studies in Portugal have identified that gillnets, longlines and purse-seine nets are the fishing gear with the greatest impact on seabird populations.  Despite recent advances, there are still large knowledge gaps on this issue in our territory, which prevents a realistic assessment of the true impact of this threat.

This project, which runs from July 2018 to July 2020, aims to bridge part of this knowledge gap by analysing the overlap between fishing activity and seabirds in all five Special Protection Areas (SPAs) of the continent, thus identifying the areas most vulnerable to accidental catches.  For the Berlengas Islands SPA, where SPEA has been working in recent years, we already have this more detailed information available, and we can go a step further with the development and testing of mitigation measures for accidental catches.

Two innovative measures for gillnets and longlines will be developed and tested on board fishing vessels.  This work will be carried out in close collaboration with the fishing community of Peniche and aims to find fishery-accessible solutions that are easily implemented and will reduce bird catch in fisheries.”

Portugal is neither a Party to ACAP nor supports a breeding population of an ACAP-listed species.  However, the ACAP-listed and Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, a Spanish breeding endemic, regularly migrates into Portuguese waters where it is at risk to fisheries (click here).

With thanks to Ana Almeida and Marc Parchow.

Reference:

Oliveira, N., Henriques, A., Miodonski, J., Pereira, J., Marujo, D., Almeida, A., Barros, N., Andrade, J., Marçalo, A., Santos, J., Benta Oliveira, I., Ferreira, M., Araújo, H., Monteiro, S., Vingada, J. & Ramírez, I. 2015.  Seabird bycatch in Portuguese mainland coastal fisheries: An assessment through on-board observations and fishermen interviews.  Global Ecology and Conservation 3: 51-61.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 December 2019

ProDelphinus is a not-for-profit Peruvian organization based in Lima that has been committed to the conservation of threatened and endangered marine fauna since its founding in 1995.  The NGO conducts projects on the research and conservation on a range of threatened and endangered marine species occurring in Peruvian waters, including seabirds.  Studies of the interactions between these species and Peruvian fisheries form a major part of ProDelphinus’ current research.

The Director of ProDelphinus is Joanna Alfaro Shigueto, who has worked as a field researcher in Peruvian fishing villages, collaborating with community, researchers and government on conservation matters.  Jeffrey Mangel acts as Scientific Director for ProDelphinus, concentrating on the interactions of Peruvian fisheries with threatened and endangered seabirds and other marine fauna and also works on bycatch mitigation research and experimentation.  Both Joanna and Jeffrey serve as members of ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group.

In support of next year’s inaugural World Albatross Day on 19 June, Joanna Alfaro and Jeffry Mangel have jointly written to ACAP Latest News in both English and Spanish:

“Albatrosses are among the most magnificent creatures one could ever see or experience in the wild.  But the threats they face – both at sea and their breeding colonies – are profound.  World Albatross Day celebrates our fascination with these seabirds and highlights the continued hard work necessary to see that their populations are healthy or can recover.  And this is the message we will share in Peru with fishers and coastal communities.”

“Los albatros son una de las criaturas mas maravillosas e impresionantes que uno puede ver en su medio natural.  Pero las amenazas que enfrentan- en mar y tierra en sus zonas de anidacion- son profundas.  El Dia Mundia de los Albatros celebra nuestra fascinacion con estas aves marina y resalta el trabajo duro y continuo que se necesita para asegurar que las poblaciones esten saludables o recuperables.  Y este es el mensaje que compartiremos en el Peru, con pescadores y comunidades pesqueras.”

 Joanna and Jeff both hold Peruvian Diving Petrels on the guano island of Santa Rosa off the Peruvian coast

ProDelphinus has a number of current projects involving both small-scale and industrial fisheries that seek to train fishers to handle and release bycaught seabirds safely, including ACAP-listed Waved Albatrosses Phoebastria irrorata and Pink-footed Shearwaters Ardenna creatopus, as well as Peruvian Diving Petrels Pelecanoides garnotii.  They also continue testing technologies to reduce seabird bycatch. The NGO presents talks, seminars and workshops to school children, fishers and marine authorities in Peruvian fishing villages in order to reduce seabird, marine mammal and turtle bycatch and their direct capture for human consumption.  It is hoped that ProDelphinus will be able to use next year’s World Albatross Day to support its educational work among Peruvian communities.

From left: Jeff Mangel, Nigel Brothers and Joanna Alfaro attach a satellite tracker to a Waved Albatross

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 November 2019

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is initiating a five-year status review of the globally Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus in terms of the US Endangered Species Act (ESA).  A five-year status review is based on the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review. The USFWS is requesting submission of any new information that has become available since the last review of the species in 2014 (click here).

A Short-tailed Albatross pair - named George and Geraldine - on Midway Atoll

“In conducting these reviews, we consider the best scientific and commercial data that have become available since the listing determination or most recent status review, such as:

(1) The biology of the species, including but not limited to population trends, distribution, abundance, demographics, and genetics;

(2) Habitat conditions, including but not limited to amount, distribution, and suitability;

(3) Conservation measures that have been implemented that benefit the species;

(4) Threat status and trends in relation to the five listing factors (as defined in section 4(a)(1) of the ESA); and

(5) Other new information, data, or corrections, including but not limited to taxonomic or nomenclatural changes, identification of erroneous information contained in the List, and improved analytical methods.

Any new information will be considered during the 5-year review and will also be useful in evaluating the ongoing recovery programs for the species.”

Comments are due by 21 January 2020.

For additional information about ESA five-year reviews click here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 November 2019