The 6th International Albatross and Petrel Conference will be held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, from 19-23 September 2016.  Abstract submission and registration are now open.  Abstracts are due by 31 March.  Early bird registration is available at a reduced rate until 31 March.

The conference programme, including keynote speakers and workshops, is available on the conference website. The venue of the conference will be the “Paranimf of the University of Barcelona” right in the city centre.

Keynote speakers will be Francesco Bonadonna, Thierry Boulinier, Vincent Bretagnolle, Paulo Catry, John Croxall, Tim Guilford, Matthieu Le Corre, Daniel Oro, Petra Quillfeldt, Ewan Wakefield, Henri Weimerskirch, Andreanna Welch and Francis Zino.

The welcome reception and icebreaker will take place on 19 September from 17h00 onwards, at the “Observatori Fabra”, with an opening talk at 20h30 by Hadoram Shirihai entitled “What it takes to rediscover & discover six petrel species".

On 29 September two workshops will take place:

Workshop 1: Data Challenge on Behavioural Annotation, organized by Federic Bartumeus, Zuzana Zajkova and José M. Reyes-González.

Workshop 2: GLS data analysis: state of the art and future, organized by Yann Tremblay and Gaia Dell'Ariccia.

If you are interested in the workshops, you will find more information on the web site, and you should contact Federic Bartumeus This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Workshop 1) and Yann Tremblay This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Workshop 2) in February.

Tours and other activities will take place on 18 and 25 September, including pelagic trips and a visit to the “Delta Birding Festival”, amongst others.

Key Dates:

Abstract Submission Deadline - 31 March 2016
Early Registration Deadline - 31 March 2016
Decision about Oral/Poster Presentations - 31 May 2016
Registration Deadline - 10 September 2016.

Further information will be available on the conference website.

We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona!

Balearic Shearwater at sea, shearing...

Jacob González-Solís, Raül Ramos, Gaia Dell’Ariccia, Laura Zango, Virginia Morera, Marta Cruz, Joan Ferrer & Carles Giménez,  Local Organizing Committee, 15 February 2016

Three  Antarctic organisations have announced opportunities for early-career researchers.

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes (COMNAP) and the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) are working together to attract talented early-career researchers, scientists, engineers and other professionals to strengthen international capacity and cooperation in fields such as climate, biodiversity, conservation, humanities and astrophysics research.

SCAR and COMNAP have again joined forces to launch fellowships for early-career researchers.  The SCAR and COMNAP fellowships are worth up to USD 15 000 each and up to six fellowships in total are on offer for 2016.  The fellowships enable early-career researchers to join a project team from another country, opening up new opportunities and often creating research partnerships that last for many years and over many Antarctic research seasons.  The deadline for SCAR and COMNAP applications is 1 June 2016.

The SCAR and COMNAP schemes are launched in conjunction with CCAMLR's Scientific Scholarship Scheme.  The CCAMLR Scholarship provides funding of up to AUD 30 000 to assist early-career scientists to participate in the work of the CCAMLR Scientific Committee and its working groups over a period of two years.  The objective of the scheme is to build capacity within the CCAMLR scientific community to help generate and sustain the scientific expertise needed to support the work of CCAMLR in the long-term.  The deadline for CCAMLR applications is 1 October 2016.

Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses, photograph by Rowan Treblico

At a small and informal ceremony at the end of January in the ACAP office suite in Salamanca Square, Hobart, ACAP's first Executive Secretary, Warren Papworth handed over the reins (and the key to the door) to Marco Favero of Argentina.  Following an advertising of the position Marco was chosen to take over from Warren as ACAP's second Executive Secretary in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain at the time of the Fifth Session of the Meeting of Parties held in May last year (click here).

Marco was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina in 1963 and studied marine biology at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata.  After his graduation in 1986, he started a 20-year research project in Antarctica, and later earned his Doctoral degree for his thesis on Antarctic seabird ecology.  His background in the biology and ecology of top marine predators comprises over 200 publications including research articles and presentations at scientific conferences.

Last day in the office, first day in the office.  Outgoing Executive Secretary Warren Papworth and incoming Marco Favero confer at HQ ACAP

Marco previously chaired ACAP's Advisory Committee, presiding over five meetings since 2007.  With his new role, the committee's Vice Chair, Mark Tasker, has taken over in an acting capacity until new appointments can be made.  Mark will steer the next meeting (the 9th) of the Advisory Committee, to be held this May in La Serena, Chile.

The ACAP Secretariat wishes Warren Papworth a well-earned retirement spending more time with his family, in particular his grandchildren after his six years at the helm, and looks forward to working with Marco Favero in the months and years to come.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 February 2016

Meritxell Genovart (Population Ecology Group, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Mallorca, Spain) and colleagues have written in the Journal of Applied Ecology have modelled the demography of the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus – an ACAP-listed species.

Balearic Shearwater, photograph by Daniel Oro

The paper’s summary follows:

“Worldwide, many seabirds are affected by fisheries in opposing ways: as a source of mortality from bycatch, but also by providing discards as a predictable and abundant food resource.  This applies to the Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, the most endangered European seabird, whose time to extinction was estimated at only ~40 years a decade ago.

Since the previous assessment, new data and more sophisticated demographic modelling have become available, and new fishing policies from the European Union (Common Fisheries Policy, CFP) will apply, posing different scenarios for the viability of the species.  Thus, there is both an urgent need and an opportunity for a more reliable update of the conservation status of the species.

Demographic data were collected between 1985–2014 at one of the world's largest colonies.  Most demographic parameters were estimated using multi-event capture–recapture modelling.  Some parameters, such as bycatch rate, immature individual survival and recruitment were estimated for the first time.  We incorporated estimates into stochastic population models to forecast time to extinction and assess the viability under different management scenarios, accounting for upcoming fishing policies.

Adult survival was much lower than expected (0.809, SE: 0.013), and largely influenced by bycatch, which accounted for a minimum of 0.455 (SE: 0.230) of total mortality.  Breeding success was positively correlated with discard availability.  Recruitment started at low rates in 3-year-old birds (0.030, SE: 0.0455), increasing in following age classes and was almost complete at 6 years.  Under the present scenario, we predict a time to extinction of 61 years (95% CI: 55–69).

Synthesis and applications.  Population projections suggest that the actual impact of fisheries on Balearic shearwaters is unsustainable and the imminent discard bans under the new Common Fisheries Policy may accelerate the declining trend.  This study demonstrates that reducing the bycatch rates of fisheries is an unavoidable and urgent conservation measure for avoiding the extinction of the species.  We also advise setting up demographic long-term studies, to allow researchers to diagnose, with reliability, the effectiveness of management actions.  These actions will also benefit many other marine top-predator species affected by this anthropogenic impact.”

Reference:

Genovart, M., Arcos, J.M., Álvarez, D., McMinn, M., Meier, R., Wynn, R., Guilford, T. & Oro, D. 2016. Demography of the critically endangered Balearic shearwater: the impact of fisheries and time to extinction.  Journal of Applied Ecology DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12622.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 February 2016