Research and management actions for the Antipodes Island population of Antipodean Albatross

AC 11 recognised the Antipodes Island population of Antipodean Albatross, Diomedea antipodensis, as an ACAP priority population for conservation management. Since the reporting to PaCSWG6 there has been continued collaborative activity to implement a conservation plan for this priority population. This follows the listing of D. antipodensis in Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) in 2020, as proposed by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. The objective of the listing included to increase cooperation between Range States, RFMOs, ACAP, non-governmental organisations and other concerned parties to improve the uptake and effectiveness of bycatch mitigation use, including compliance monitoring and bycatch data collection, and to reduce the capture of Antipodean Albatross (and other seabird species) in longline fisheries. As part of the CMS listing process, New Zealand, Australia and Chile developed a CMS plan on Concerted Action for the Antipodean Albatross, which includes a full suite of actions to be taken by the CMS Party Range States and CMS Parties that are Members of, or engage with, key RFMOs. This paper provides the second update of the implementation of the CMS plan on Concerted Action for the Antipodean Albatross. Progress has been made towards the review of seabird bycatch measures in various relevant RFMOs and we provide further updates on the research and monitoring on the Antipodes Island population.