Tristan : UKOTs IMPORTANT FOR ALBATROSS AND PETRELS SAYS ACAP CO-ORDINATOR
Submitted by Tristan Times (Juanita Brock) 14.07.2009 (Article Archived on 11.08.2009)
Anton Wolfaardt is the ACAP coordinator for the UK South Atlantic OTs, based in the Falkland Islands, but working on behalf of the UKOTs of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and SSI, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha, as well as for the UK government.
Photo (c) James Glass (Tristan Times)
UKOTs IMPORTANT FOR ALBATROSS AND PETRELS SAYS ACAP CO-ORDINATOR
By J. Brock (Tristan Times)
The Catch of seabirds instead of fish.
(c) James Glass (Tristan Times)
Anton Wolfaardt is the ACAP coordinator for the UK South Atlantic OTs, based in the Falkland Islands, but working on behalf of the UKOTs of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and SSI, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha, as well as for the UK government.
Problems begin with the abundance of bait near the F/V Viola off Tristan da Cunha
(c) James Glass Tristan Times
ACAP is a legally binding agreement established in 2004 which aims to establish and maintain a favourable conservation status for albatrosses and petrels; the UK ratified the agreement, including on behalf of the relevant OTs in 2004, soon after the agreement was formally established
Tristan Albatross rest on the rocks at Gough Island
(c) J. Brock (Tristan Times)
Tristan Times: We hear about mitigation measures on longliners to protect seabirds. Why are albatrosses and petrels so important?
Anton Wolfaardt: The reason for focussing on albatrosses and petrels is that they are considered to be the most threatened group of birds in the world. Most of the species that are formally covered by the Agreement are experiencing long term population declines. The agreement really came about as a result of the international concern of the high levels of mortality of albatrosses and petrels associated with fisheries.
Over-sized mice finishing off a meal of Albatross chick at Gough Island
(c) Birdlife International
The Agreement also recognises the need for international cooperation. Because albatrosses and petrels are truly international animals, the only way to achieve any success, is to adopt a collaborative approach and take shared responsibility. This is because these birds use vast areas of the ocean. So, birds breeding here in the Falkland Islands, or South Georgia, spend a great deal of time, especially when not breeding, outside of the jurisdictional waters of those territories.
An adolescent Tristan Albatross (Gony) out of his territory on Tristan. This bird was reared on Gough Island and could get into trouble if it stays out of its territory for too long. Photo (c) J. Brock (Tristan Times)
For example, Black browed albatrosses from the Falklands will range much more widely during the non-breeding season, including on the high seas and the jurisdictional waters of South American countries. The younger birds move even further afield, many as far away as Brazil for example. We know that longline fisheries in Brazil and Uruguay are accidentally catching many juvenile Black browed albatrosses. It is almost certain that most of these birds come from the Falklands population. Similarly, BBA from South Georgia generally overwinter off the coast of South Africa and Namibia, where we know lots of birds are being killed. So the lesson here is that we need to do everything we can to continue to minimise mortality and improve the conservation status of these birds locally, but we also need to collaborate with other countries if we are to make any progress.
An adolescent Giant Petrel on South Georgia faces an uncertain future when it flys outside of the South Georgia Management Zone where seabird mitigation measures are poorly enforced. Photo (c) J. Brock (FINN)
Tristan Times: What Role does the UKOTs have in seabird protection? Are the UK OTs important for albatrosses and petrels?
Anton Wolfaardt: The UKOTs are incredibly important.
Of the 29 species listed in the Agreement, 12 are found as breeding populations in the UKOTs. For most of these, the UKOTs hold significant proportions of the global population. For example, the Falkland Islands has about 70% of the world’s population of BBA. Three of the species listed are endemic to the Tristan da Cunha group of islands. This means they breed nowhere else in the world. So, this clearly confers huge responsibility on us to ensure that these populations are well managed.
Tristan Times: What can be done to improve the conservation status of albatrosses and petrels?
The declines of most of the populations of ACAP species are due to a number of factors, both at the breeding colonies and at sea. For most species, these declines are partly or wholly attributed to incidental mortality in fisheries.
Fortunately, there are solutions to many of the problems that these birds face. Both the South Georgia and the Falklands Govt, have been at the forefront of developing measures to minimise mortalities associated with commercial fishing activities. For example, the use of a tori line, or bird scaring line, has been found to be very effective at keeping birds away from baited hooks and fishing gear, which has resulted in substantial reduction in seabird mortality. There is always room for improvement, and we need to constantly look for ways to improve the design and implementation of such measures, and especially to extend these measures to fisheries which haven’t taken them up yet.
It’s also important to continue monitoring the affected populations to understand the factors influencing trends in the population, and to assess the efficacy of the mitigation measures that are being implemented. It’s important to note that seabirds are long-lived, and so monitoring programmes really need to be of a long-term nature if they are to yield useful information. Again, these sorts of programmes are in place in most of the UKOTs, and involve a number of different individuals and organisations. And it’s really important that this work is properly coordinated. There is also a need to look at international collaboration to get a better understanding of the regional status.
Tristan Times: Have the various measures put in place improved the conservation of these birds?
Anton Wolfaardt: They have certainly contributed, but there is still a need to make further progress especially on the high seas and in coastal waters of other countries. So, for example, even though there have been no Wandering Albatrosses caught in fisheries around South Georgia for some time, the Wandering Albatross population at SG continues to decline quite steeply. The reason for this is almost certainly that these birds are being killed outside of the SG waters, both on the high seas and in the EEZs of other countries. So, until we address that issue, it is likely that the numbers will continue to decline.
Yellownose Albatross on Nightingale Island also face extinction and are affected by poor seabird mitigation measures. Photo (c) James Glass (Tristan Times)
Tristan Times: Is it only at sea where the albatrosses and petrels are in danger?
Anton Wolfaardt: For most of the ACAP species, at sea impacts are the most significant. However, there are some species which are also impacted by significant threats on land, at their breeding sites. A very good example is the Tristan Albatross. The TA is closely related to the Wandering Albatross and only breeds on Gough Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. In addition to being caught incidentally in longline fisheries in the Atlantic, this bird faces another enormous threat, and that is predation from House Mice. On Gough Island, these mice, which have been on the island from the late 19th century have evolved to prey on the chicks of Tristan Albatross and several other species. This predation, together with adult mortality associated with longline fishing activities, are contributing to the ongoing decline of this species, and are in the process of driving it to extinction (the breeding success of Tristan albatrosses is about one fifth of what you would expect for the species).
Clearly, something needs to be done to deal with this threat. The problem is that Gough Island is fairly large (6500) and very rugged. The largest island that has been removed of mice so far is Enderby Island in NZ, which is 700 ha in size. Work is currently taking place to determine the feasibility of eradicating mice from Gough Island. So far, this work has shown that it is technically feasible to eradicate mice from Gough, but that there are still some areas of uncertainty that need to be clarified. Once these uncertainties have been dealt with (and work is currently underway to better understand these issues), we then need to move urgently towards a implementation of an eradication programme. It is clear that while the mice remain on Gough Island, the Tristan Albatross faces a very high risk of extinction.
Tristan Times: So, what does the future look like for albatrosses and petrels?
Anton Wolfaardt: It certainly looks very challenging, and there remain significant challenges and threats to their survival. However, there have been many successful interventions that have reduced these impacts, and improved the survival prospects for many populations. These certainly need to be progressed further, and especially extended to other areas where implementation of such measures remains lacking. And importantly, we all need to work together to ensure a brighter future for these magnificent birds.
Human impact has also worried environmentalists but the tourism industry and governments are taking steps to monitor and minimalise human interfereance.
Photo (c) J. Brock (Tristan Times)
|
