An Amsterdam Albatross off Amsterdam Island; photograph by Kirk Zufelt.

The Albatross Task Force, an international team of scientific experts led by BirdLife International and the RSPB, has released its 2021/22 Annual Report on its work with fisheries to reduce seabird bycatch.

Albatross Task Force teams engage with fisheries in Argentina, Chile, Namibia and South Africa to encourage the uptake and proper implementation of ACAP’s Best Practice mitigation measures. More recently, in response to consumers increased interest in sustainable fishing, the Albatross Task Force have been utilising certification schemes such as that run by the Marine Stewardship Council, and direct engagement with retailers, to drive the adoption of mitigation measures by fisheries. 

On the release of the report, BirdLife International’s Bycatch Programme Manager, Rory Crawford stated, “…this has very much been the year the ATF went electronic, working on a number of projects to see how effective camera monitoring of our target fisheries might be in supporting seabird bycatch reductions – with some amazing results!

We’ve continued to build capacity to take action on preventing seabird bycatch in all parts of the fisheries management ecosystem – from crews to captains and fisheries observers to inspectors. Hundreds of key industry stakeholders have been empowered with seabird bycatch knowledge, and many teams have developed resources that institutions can use to deliver their own seabird bycatch training.

These are the vital foundations of making all theTaskForce’s efforts through the years sustainable – ensuring that keeping albatrosses off hooks and out of nets becomes a little part of everybody's job."

The full report is available to read here.

For regular updates on The Albatross Task Force follow @AlbyTaskForce on Twitter, @albatross_stories on Instagram, and read monthly updates on the ATF blog. 

Posted 22 August 2022

Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis (pictured) are globally Near Threatened and have most of their breeding populations on the low-lying atolls of the USA’s North-Western Hawaiian Islands making them susceptible to the effects of climate change. Photograph by Eric VanderWerf

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation that will invest 370 billion U.S. dollars into renewable energies, carbon reduction schemes and other initiatives to combat climate change.

Although climate change is only one factor contributing to the challenges many birds face for their survival, the signing of this bill signals a step in addressing the conservation crisis ACAP’s listed species are facing, and of which, climate change plays a role.

How will this new law help bird populations? The National Audubon Society has written about the key ways in which this bill will help the world’s birds. Read the full story here.

Posted 19 August 2022

Wedge-tailed Shearwaters in the Freeman Seabird Preserve, artwork from Pelagicos

The Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica colony within the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on the Hawaiian island of Oahu has increased from zero four years ago to 134 breeding pairs in the current breeding season.  The NGO Pacific Rim Conservation writes on its Facebook page “While this was not one of the target species for our restoration efforts, seabirds are often attracted to other closely related species, and we think that our social attraction efforts for our translocated chicks [have] drawn in these burrow nesting seabirds. The word is out that this is a safe nesting spot!”

A Wedge-tailed Shearwater rests at its burrow entrance; photograph from Pacific Rim Conservation

The NGO has been using translocation of chicks that were then hand fed until fledging to establish new breeding colonies of Black-footed Phoebetria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses, Bonin Petrels Pterodroma hypoleuca and Tristram’s Storm Petrels Hydrobates tristrami within a predator-proof fence inside the refuge (click here).

Going up.  Wedge-tailed Shearwater active nests, Freeman Seabird Preserve, 2009-2022

At another site on Oahu, the colony of “Wedgies” in the Freeman Seabird Preserve continues to grow, with 423 breeding pairs recorded this year.  Pelagicos (Pelagic Conservation Laboratory, Hawai'i Pacific University) reports on its Facebook page that the colony is increasing “by an additional 24.9 nests every July census.  Since 2009, the colony has more than quadrupled in size”.

The first translocated Newell’s Shearwater to return to Nihoku; photograph from Pacific Rim Conservation

On another Hawaiian island, Kauai, the first translocated Newell’s Shearwater Puffinus newelli (a male) has returned to the coastal Nihoku Ecosystem Restoration Project site within the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, leading to hopes a new breeding colony will be established for this Critically Endangered species.  The bird was first filmed calling from a burrow in June and was then caught and identified by the numbered leg band placed on it as a translocated chick in 2018 (click here).  Translocated Hawaiian Petrels Pterodroma sandwichensis (Endangered) have already started breeding within the predator-proof fence at Nihoku.

John Cooper, ACAP News Correspondent, 18 August 2022

A Manx Shearwater; photograph by Nathan Fletcher

Jamie Darby (University College Cork, Cork, Ireland) and colleagues have published open access in The Royal Society’s journal, Proceedings B, on the potential for climate change to negatively impact pelagic seabird populations through difficulty in foraging due to decreased underwater visibility.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Understanding the sensory ecology of species is vital if we are to predict how they will function in a changing environment. Visual cues are fundamentally important for many predators when detecting and capturing prey. However, many marine areas have become more turbid through processes influenced by climate change, potentially affecting the ability of marine predators to detect prey. We performed the first study that directly relates a pelagic seabird species's foraging behaviour to oceanic turbidity. We collected biologging data from 79 foraging trips and 5472 dives of a visually dependent, pursuit-diving seabird, the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus). Foraging behaviour was modelled against environmental variables affecting underwater visibility, including water turbidity, cloud cover and solar angle. Shearwaters were more likely to initiate area-restricted search and foraging dives in clearer waters. Underwater visibility also strongly predicted dive rate and depth, suggesting that fine-scale prey capture was constrained by the detectability of prey underwater. Our novel use of dynamic descriptors of underwater visibility suggests that visual cues are vital for underwater foraging. Our data indicate that climate change could negatively impact seabird populations by making prey more difficult to detect, compounded by the widely reported effects of reduced prey populations.”

Reference:

Darby, J., Clairbaux, M., Bennison, A., Quinn J.L. & Jessopp, M.J. 2022. Underwater visibility constrains the foraging behaviour of a diving pelagic seabird. Proc. Roy. Soc. B.2892022086220220862. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0862.

Posted 17 August 2022