Overlap and interactions of wandering albatrosses with fisheries in the southwest Atlantic Ocean

Citation
Carneiro APB, Pearmain EJ, Clark L, Phillips RA (2021) Overlap and interactions of wandering albatrosses with fisheries in the southwest Atlantic Ocean. In: ACAP - 6th Meeting of the Population & Conservation Status Working Group. ACAP PaCSWG6 Inf 06, Online, p 1
Abstract

Wandering albatrosses breeding at South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)1 are an ACAP (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) Priority Population. The main cause of decline for this population is incidental mortality in fishing vessels outside local waters, mostly from pelagic longline vessels. Estimates of spatial overlap are an important tool for identifying areas and periods where birds are most at risk. However, current estimates are only available at a large RFMO (Regional Fisheries Management Organization) and monthly scale, and are often aggregated. Here, we combine recentlydeveloped loggers that record the GPS position of birds at sea and regularly scan the surroundings to detect the presence of radar transmissions from vessels, along with the positions of fishing vessels obtained from the automatic identification system (AIS) to provide a clear understanding of areas, periods and legal and undeclared fleets from which bycatch risk is greatest for wandering albatrosses of different life-history and breeding status. Higher spatial overlap between wandering albatrosses and vessels occurred during incubation and post-guard chick rearing periods, when birds travel to the Brazil confluence. Wandering albatrosses encountered many different vessels, but interactions occurred mostly with set longliners, and particularly with Korean vessels.