Archived News

The Albatross and Petrel Agreement makes small grants to projects that will assist the Agreement meet its objective of achieving and maintaining a favourable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels.  For the 2012 round of grants total funding of approximately AUD 60 000 was made available for allocation from the Advisory Committee (AC) Work Programme budget, with a maximum of AUD 20 000 available for each individual project approved for funding (click here for more details).

A joint American Bird Conservancy and BirdLife International project (ACAP 2012-06 AC) has been funded to develop and test mitigation measures for the artisanal demersal longline fleet for hake in the South American port of Santa Rosa that will help reduce bycatch of the Critically Endangered Waved Albatrosses Phoebastria irrorata along the coast of Ecuador.  The project also aims to build support for seabird bycatch mitigation through community education and outreach, and provide information to government agencies to facilitate the adoption of broader guidelines for the conservation of seabirds.

Experimental work will investigate the effects of line weighting, speed of setting and hauling, offal discharge and safe release of live birds as factors affecting seabird bycatch in Ecuadorian fisheries.

Waved Albatross near the blow hole, Punta Suarez, Isla Espanola, Galapagos.
Photograph by John Cooper

ACAP 2012-06 AC.  NGO action in Santa Rosa, Ecuador to reduce bycatch of Waved albatross (and other seabirds) in artisanal longline fisheries.  (Jessica Hardesty Norris & George Wallace, American Bird Conservancy and Esteban Frere & Oli Yates, BirdLife International Global Seabird Programme).

Click here to read about two other ACAP grants made this year to South African researchers to help conserve albatrosses.

With thanks to Marco Favero, Chair, ACAP Advisory Committee for information.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 July 2012