Conservation Issues Archived

Archived Reports

Oil Spill near High Island, Texas

Brazilian Oil Rig Sinks

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Greenland Seabirds in Decline

Kittiwakes Decline on Shetland Islands

Statistical assessment of Southern Ocean seabirds

New Technology Minimizes Seabird Deaths In Hawaii Longline Fishery

Protecting Seabird Breeding Islands as World Heritage Sites

NEW YORK, Dec 26 (Reuters) - An undersea crude oil pipeline ruptured on
Sunday after being hit by a ship's anchor, spilling over 20,000 gallons
of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico and leaving a half-mile long oil
slick on the water.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation said the extent of
the damage to the High Island Pipeline, which is operated by Plains All
American Pipeline L.P. (PAA.N: Quote, Profile , Research), was still
being evaluated....

A 60-yard-wide oil sheen was visible on the water extending half a mile
from the site of the accident, which occurred about 30 miles southeast
of Galveston, Texas, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

"(The pipeline) is still leaking about 80 to 400 gallons per day of
oil," Coast Guard spokesman Adam Wine said.

Brazilian Oil Rig Sinks
March 2001 an oil rig collapsed and sunk. No more reports on the status of this dangerous situation. Apparently there was little oil leaked.

Of course the same thing is happening in the Atlantic. Consider not using any throwaway plastic items including: water bottles, shopping bags, plastic flatware, plates.

Kjeld Hansen 3/11/2002.
A Farewell to Greenland's Wildlife.
Gads Forlag, Copenhagen, Denmark, ISBN 87-89723-01-5

If you are a sentimental person, better not read this account on the massive declines in virtually any wildlife in Greenland, mainly as a result of excessive shooting and drowning. For keen seabirders, however, this is essential reading, so we may be happy that this translation from the Danish book is now available. Birds in decline: all except geese.

Including the complete disappearance of the once largest Arctic Tern colony in the world on Gro/nne Ejland group (50.000-80.000 pairs in 1950, none in 2000; mainly due to constant disturbance and egg-collecting in a RAMSAR site).

Bruennich's Guillemots at the west coast declined from 500.000 birds to less than 10.000 during the last 60 years.

There is quite a few more of those encouraging figures in the book. It is perhaps time to join forces and try to convince local managers that this is perhaps not the most sustainable way of seabird conservation within desginated RAMSAR areas...

Kees Camphuysen

Kittiwakes Decline on Shetland Islands

from British Birds

Kittiwakes, one of the most loved of seabirds, are in serious decline on the Shetlands according to a new report published in the March issue of the monthly journal British Birds (Martin Heubeck - 95: 118-123).

Careful counts at breeding colonies over the last twenty years show a decline of 70% on the main Shetland colonies. On Fair Isle, a few miles south of the main islands, the decline did not start until about 1990 but the colonies are now down to 8,204 breeding pairs from 19,340 in 1988. This is almost exactly a third of the Shetland breeding population - Fair Isle had about a quarter of Shetland's Kittiwakes in 1981.

Martin Heubeck, the author of the report, spends a lot of time each summer in a small inflatable carefully counting the Kittiwake nests in the colonies round the coast. He is very sad that many of the traditional sites, where the birds had bred for years, are now deserted.

Two reasons are put forward for the loss. The birds feed on sand eels and switch from the one year-old fish to the same years as the breeding season progresses. Unfortunately the fish's behaviour has changed and often they are hidden in the sand when the birds need them.

This has affected some other species too and the lack of seabirds flying around with sand eels in their beaks has stopped the aggressive Great Skuas from stealing their food. They have therefore changed to direct predation on the seabirds - and particularly the Kittiwakes. Many of the colonies which are still in existences, and certainly a lot of those which are doing relatively well, are in more sheltered areas where the Great Skuas find it more difficult to predate the breeding birds.

Kittiwakes, Rissa tridactyla, are charming and small dove grey cliff-nesting gulls. Their name comes from their call. About 10% of Britain's breeding population and rather more than 1% of the North Atlantic population.

Great Skuas, Catharacta skua, are big brown gull-like birds with a white flash in their wings. They are rare in most areas but Shetland has more than 40% of the world population! They are therefore of great conservation interest even though they are very destructive of the Kittiwakes!

Statistical assessment of Southern Ocean seabirds

A statistical assessment of the status and trends of Antarctic and Subantarctic seabirds Woehler EJ, Cooper J, Croxall JP, Fraser WR, Kooyman GL, Miller GD, Nel DC, Patterson DL, Peter H-U, Ribic CA, Salwicka K, Trivelpiece WZ & Weimerskirch H

ABSTRACT

A workshop held under the auspices of SCAR, CCAMLR & NSF in Montana in May 1999 examined statistically all available long-term population data for Southern Ocean seabirds.

For the workshop, long-term was defined as either: i) continuous for more than 10 years, or ii) discontinuous for more than 10 years, but with more than 50% coverage.

A total of 61 long-term data sets for 25 taxa was examined. Species and regional syntheses were undertaken where data permitted. Significant decreases in populations are evident for those species known to be caught on longline fisheries (albatrosses, Southern Giant Petrels and Procellaria spp.).Substantial changes were noted for many of the penguin populations examined, but these varied in terms of degree and direction among species and geographical areas, so that no completely consistent overall pattern emerged. However, decreases in all penguins other than King Penguins in the Subantarctic was a feature of the data.

For some species of unfavourable conservation status (BirdLife International 2000) very limited, if any, data are available for assessment of population trends (eg Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena, White-chinned Petrel, Spectacled Petrel P. conspicillata and Grey Petrel P. cinerea). Other species with notably inadequate data include Light-mantled and Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses. No time-series population data appear to exist for Antarctic Petrels, a species that is endemic to the Antarctic continent and adjacent waters. Other characteristic Antarctic species for which there is little current population monitoring include Cape and Snow Petrels and Southern Fulmar. Priorities for collateral data to assist future assessments, for other analytical techniques and for additional data are indicated.

*******************************************
Dr Eric J Woehler Chair,
SCAR Bird Biology Subcommittee Australian Antarctic Division
Channel Highway, Kingston Tasmania 7050 AUSTRALIA
ph 03 6232 3376 (Int +613 6232 3376)
fax 03 6232 3351 (Int +613 6232 3351)
Eric.Woehler@aad.gov.au
http://www.scar.org/

New Technology Minimizes Seabird Deaths In Hawaii Longline Fishery

From: National Audubon Society Wednesday, March 20, 2002
HONOLULU, HAWAII

Today, the National Audubon Society announced that new device which keeps fish bait and hooks out of sight of birds will greatly help avoid seabird mortality in the Hawaii tuna longline fishery. The equipment, called an underwater chute, enables longline fishing vessels to catch tuna and swordfish without killing the thousands of albatross that get caught on baited hooks and drown each year.

First developed in 1995, the underwater setting chute releases baited hooks underwater, out of sight and reach of these diving seabirds. It has been tested in New Zealand, and is currently undergoing trials in Australia's tuna longline fisheries. Trials were completed off the coast of Hawaii last week.

"Preliminary analysis of the research data indicates the chute was significantly more effective at avoiding seabird deaths when compared to a control of setting under normal tuna fishing practices," said Eric Gilman, project manager for the trial of the chute and Pacific representative for Audubon's Living Oceans Program.

Of the man-made and natural threats to seabirds, one of the most critical global problems is incidental mortality in longline fisheries. Birds most at risk from death in Hawaii's and other North Pacific longline fisheries are petrels and albatross, including the Short-tailed, Black-Footed and Laysan albatrosses. The birds get hooked or entangled when gear is being set and are dragged underwater and drown as the fishing gear sinks.

The results of last week's trial indicate when setting under control conditions without the underwater setting chute, seabirds contacted 6.5% of baited hooks set, resulting in the mortality of 24 seabirds. When setting with the chute, seabirds contacted 0.2% of baited hooks set, and no birds were caught or killed. "This project demonstrates that collaboration between an environmental NGO, fishing industry, and government management authority is effective and should serve as a model for future efforts," continued Audubon's Gilman.

According to Jim Cook, owner of the fishing vessel Katy Mary and representative of the Hawaii Longline Association, "the data indicate that the chute is effective at avoiding seabird interactions with longline gear in the Hawaii fleet. And, equally important, the longline industry is likely to support use of the chute, as it promises to save fishers money by reducing bait loss, and does not require significant alteration of normal fishing practices."

Project partners include the National Audubon Society, Hawaii Longline Association; US National Marine Fisheries Service; Albi Save, an Australian-based company that manufactures the chute; and the captain and crew of the Katy Mary, a Hawaii longline fishing vessel. The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, and National Audubon Society's Living Oceans Program provided financial support.

"Based on a preliminary review of the data, the chute promses to resolve seabird bycatch problems in the Hawaii tuna fishery, and if the Hawaii swordfish fishery (closed in 1999 due to concerns over sea turtle mortality) resolves their turtle bycatch problem and is allowed to resume, the chute will likely be effective at avoiding seabirds in this fishery as well." Continued Gilman. "Management authorities need to provide incentives for industry to continue commercial demonstrations of the chute to augment stakeholder ownership for its industry-wide use. Managers also need to conduct a directed experiment to test the effectiveness of currently required seabird deterrent measures, which were observed to be ineffective during the chute experiment."

Gilman will work with Dr. Chris Boggs of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Nigel Brothers, an Australian biologist who collected data for the at-sea trial of the chute, and captain Jerry Ray and crew of the Katy Mary, to write a final report for the experiment. Founded in 1905 and supported by 600,000 members in more than 500 chapters throughout the Americas, the National Audubon Society conserves and restores natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife, and their habitats, for the benefit of humanity and the Earth's biological diversity.

For more information, contact
Eric Gilman Pacific Representative for Audubon's Living Oceans Campaign
National Audubon Society
808-988-1976
egilman@lava.net
Web site: http://www.audubon.org

Protecting Seabird Breeding Islands as World Heritage Sites

At its 25th Session in December 2001, the World Heritage Committee inscribed the Brazilian Atlantic Ocean islands of Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas onto its World Heritage List.

This adds these two important seabird breeding islands (terns, boobies, frigate birds, tropicbirds) to quite a long list of southern hemisphere oceanic islands that now have World Heritage status. This list includes the sub-Antarctic/cool temperate islands of Gough (UK), Macquarie and Heard & Macdonald (Australia) and Auckland, Campbell, Snares, Bounties and Antipodes (New Zealand), as well as Henderson Island (UK) in the South Pacific. In addition, South Africa will be submitting its sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands for inscription on the World Heritage list in 2004. Also, suggestions have been made to the UK Government for Inaccessible Island (endemic Spectacled Petrel) in the Tristan da Cunha Group to be included within an expanded Gough Island World Heritage site.

The Northerm Hemisphere seems to be lagging in this regard. Perhaps seabird conservationists should start motivating for some northern seabird islands to be inscribed by their countries?

From: John Cooper