167 individuals versus millions of hooks: bycatch mitigation in longline fisheries underlies conservation of Amsterdam albatrosses

Autor: Thiebot, Jean-Baptiste, Delord, Karine, Barbraud, Christophe, Marteau, Cédric, Weimerskirch, Henri
Přispěvatelé: Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (T.A.A.F.), Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises, National Institute of Polar Research [Tokyo] (NiPR), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems
Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, Wiley, 2016, 26, pp.674-688. ⟨10.1002/aqc.2578⟩
ISSN: 1052-7613
1099-0755
DOI: 10.1002/aqc.2578⟩
Popis: International audience; 1. Industrial fisheries represent one of the most serious threats worldwide to seabird conservation. Death ofbirds in fishing operations (i.e. bycatch) has especially adverse effects on populations of albatrosses, which haveextremely low fecundity.2. The single population worldwide of Amsterdam albatross (Diomedea amsterdamensis) comprises only 167individuals and risks considerable decline over the mid-term from additional mortality levels potentially inducedby fisheries. The priority actions listed in the current conservation plan for this species included characterizingthe longline fisheries operating within its range, dynamically analysing the overlap between albatrosses and thesefisheries, and providing fisheries management authorities with potential impact estimates of longline fisheries onthe Amsterdam albatross.3. During all life-cycle stages and year quarters the birds overlapped extensively with fishing effort in thesouthern Indian and Atlantic oceans. Fishing effort, and consequently overlap score (calculated as the productof fishing effort and time spent by the birds in a spatial unit) was highest in July–September (45% of the hooksannually deployed). Just three fleets (Taiwanese, Japanese and Spanish) contributed to >98% of the overlap scoresfor each stage (72% from the Taiwanese fleet alone, on average). Daily overlap scores were higher for thenon-breeding versus the breeding stages (3-fold factor on average).4. Based on previous bycatch rates for other albatross species, this study estimated that longline fisheriescurrently have the potential to remove ~2–16 individuals (i.e. ~5%) each year from the total Amsterdamalbatross population, depending on whether bycatch mitigation measures were or were not systematicallyemployed during the fishing operations.5. Recent bycatch mitigation measures may be instrumental in the conservation of the Amsterdamalbatross. This study suggests three further key recommendations: (1) to focus conservation efforts on theaustral winter; (2) to require all operating vessels to report ring recoveries; and (3) to allocate specialregulation of fishing operations in the areas of peak bycatch risk for the Amsterdam albatrosses.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: