The project “Sustainable Management of Tuna Fisheries and Biodiversity Conservation in the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ)”, (also known as the “Common Oceans Tuna Project”) aims to achieve responsibility, efficiency and sustainability in tuna production and biodiversity conservation within the ABNJ.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the overall implementing agency of the project, and BirdLife International, through one of its national partners, BirdLife South Africa, is implementing the seabird bycatch component. The seabird bycatch component of the project has a number of separate, but aligned, areas of work. These include increasing awareness and capacity of observer programmes regarding seabird bycatch mitigation, and building capacity of national scientists from key countries in the area of bycatch data collection and analysis, and facilitating a collaborative approach to the assessment of seabird bycatch.

The first stage of the seabird bycatch assessment process involved two regional pre-assessment workshops, one held in Skukuza, Kruger National Park, South Africa in February 2017, and the second in Hoi An, Vietnam in April 2017. The workshops brought national scientists and other experts together to discuss the challenges associated with assessing and monitoring seabird bycatch, including the availability of data and methodological approaches for such analyses. Importantly, the workshops also facilitated constructive discussions towards a collaborative assessment of seabird bycatch and the effectiveness of relevant Conservation and Management Measures in southern hemisphere tuna fisheries operating within ABNJ.

Attendees at the ABNJ workshop held in Vietnam

ACAP's Anton Wolfaardt makes his presentation to an ABNJ workshop, photographs by Bronwyn Maree

Two further workshops are planned as part of the process, the first to prepare and collate the required data for a collaborative assessment, and the final workshop to conduct the assessment. These are likely to take place in 2018 and early 2019, respectively.

ACAP was represented at both pre-assessment workshops by the Convenor of its Seabird Bycatch Working Group, Anton Wolfaardt.

An article on the two workshops can be found on the Common Oceans project website.  Click here for earlier accounts on the ABNJ’s activities in ACAP Latest News.

Anton Wolfaardt, Convenor, ACAP Seabird Bycatch Working Group, 22 May 2017

Letizia Campioni (MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the journal Animal Behaviour on visits to non-natal colonies by pre-breeding Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“In long-lived species with delayed maturity, prebreeders are expected to gather information by visiting and sampling the quality of potential nesting areas (prospecting), before they choose where to breed. In most seabirds, this process is important because, once recruited, individuals generally remain site-faithful throughout their long reproductive life. As many seabirds are believed to display low levels of natal dispersal, it is possible that natal philopatry is an obligate strategy for most individuals, with prospecting being a negligible activity during the prebreeding stage. Using ringing information and GPS technology, we tracked breeding adults and prebreeder black-browed albatrosses, Thalassarche melanophris, from a colony of the Falkland Islands, during the breeding season. Breeding adults rarely engaged in prospecting, whereas prebreeders showed a high propensity to visit other colonies. Most prebreeders started prospecting ashore when 4–5 years old and most of the younger individuals prospected more than one breeding colony, with some prospecting up to five colonies in just 9 days. Prospecting activity did not differ between males and females and rapidly declined as prebreeders aged, by which time individuals had probably already selected their future nesting site. Nestling body mass at 60 days of age and hatching date did not influence prospecting behaviour later in life. Prospecting was mostly directed at colonies within 10 km from the natal place, but occurred regularly up to 55–65 km. While distance from the natal place was a strong predictor of the probability of a colony being prospected, colony size and growth rate were not. Our results provide new insights into the role of prospecting in the process of recruitment, showing that even for highly philopatric birds, recruitment to the natal colony (or to another nesting site) has the potential to be informed, not done blindly.”

With thanks to Letizia Campioni for information and photograph.

Reference:

Campioni, L., Granadeiro, J.P. & Catry, P. 2017.  Albatrosses prospect before choosing a home: intrinsic and extrinsic sources of variability in visit rates.  Animal Behaviour 128: 85-93.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 19 May 2017

Tina Cornioley (Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland) and colleagues have published open-access in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences on the relationships between body mass and breeding and survival in Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“One of the predicted consequences of climate change is a shift in body mass distributions within animal populations. Yet body mass, an important component of the physiological state of an organism, can affect key life-history traits and consequently population dynamics. Over the past decades, the wandering albatross—a pelagic seabird providing bi-parental care with marked sexual size dimorphism—has exhibited an increase in average body mass and breeding success in parallel with experiencing increasing wind speeds. To assess the impact of these changes, we examined how body mass affects five key life-history traits at the individual level: adult survival, breeding probability, breeding success, chick mass and juvenile survival. We found that male mass impacted all traits examined except breeding probability, whereas female mass affected none. Adult male survival increased with increasing mass. Increasing adult male mass increased breeding success and mass of sons but not of daughters. Juvenile male survival increased with their chick mass. These results suggest that a higher investment in sons by fathers can increase their inclusive fitness, which is not the case for daughters. Our study highlights sex-specific differences in the effect of body mass on the life history of a monogamous species with bi-parental care.”

A Wandering adult guards its chick on Marion Island, Prince Edward Island on the horizon, photograph by John Cooper

Read a news item on the paper here.

Reference:

Cornioley, T., Jenouvrier, S., Börger, L., Weimerskirch, H., & Ozgul, A. 2017.  Fathers matter: male body mass affects life-history traits in a size-dimorphic seabird.  Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences  doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0397.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 May 2017

Following successful eradications of alien mammals on several other of its sub-Antarctic islands, New Zealand is now looking to “complete the set” by clearing its largest southern island of three introduced mammals by 2025 - as described in the following advertisement for a Pest Eradication Project Manager.

“New Zealand’s Department of Conservation is seeking a talented and experienced person to manage the planning and delivery of a complex and specialised project. The project aims to eradicate remaining mammalian pests (pigs, cats and mice) from 46 000-ha Auckland Island in New Zealand’s World Heritage listed Sub Antarctic region.

The position is based in Invercargill. The successful applicant will be largely office based during the planning phase. The role will also be required to lead and oversee work on remote Auckland Island (465 km south of Bluff, New Zealand) for periods. You will enjoy working as part of a team in a challenging environment.

The ambitious project is nationally significant and aligned with the Predator Free New Zealand initiative’s interim goal for ‘Eradication of predators from New Zealand’s Island Nature Reserves by 2025′. Success will be dependent on quality planning and delivery.

The successful applicant will have proven performance in project management with outstanding leadership and communications skills and experience managing high value relationships. Some of the other skills you will need include:

Physically fit and capable in remote field situations,
Good computer skills with competency across Microsoft suite,
Adaptability,
Strong collaboration ability,
Media skills,
Strong negotiation skills,
Pest control and eradication knowledge,
Remote island operational experience, and
Full driver’s licence.

Auckland's White-capped Albatrosses will be able to breed with more success once the feral pigs are eradicated, photograph by David Thompson

Please apply online here. Applications must include a cover letter, CV and evidence of the required capabilities as per the project description.

For any queries, please contact Tony Preston, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. VPN 5812 or telephone (03) 211 2412, quoting vacancy 400/84T1.

Applications close at 5 pm on Monday, 29 May 2017.”

Click for the Project Description and the Applicant Information Sheet.

Read a related ACAP Latest News item here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer. 17 May 2017