The conservation status and priorities for albatrosses and large petrels

Published Date
September 2016, Vol.201:169–183, doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.017
Review

Author 

• R.A. Phillips ^a,,
• R. Gales ^b
• G.B. Baker ^c
• M.C. Double ^d
• M. Favero ^e
• F. Quintana ^f
• M.L. Tasker ^g
• H. Weimerskirch ^h
• M. Uhart ⁱ
• A. Wolfaardt ^j

• aBritish Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
• b259 Howden Road, Howden, Tasmania, Australia
• cInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS-Hobart), Private Bag 129, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
• dAustralian Antarctic Division, 203 Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia
• eInstituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC, CONICET-UNMDP), Mar del Plata, Argentina
• fInstituto de Biologia de Organismos Marinos (IBIOMAR), CONICET, Puerto Madryn U9120ACD, Chubut, Argentina
• gJoint Nature Conservation Committee, Inverdee House, Baxter Street, Aberdeen AB11 9QA, UK
• hCentre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS, 79360, Villiers en Bois, France
• iOne Health Institute, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
• jP.O. Box 64, The Crags, 6602, South Africa

Received 25 October 2015. Revised 16 June 2016. Accepted 20 June 2016. Available online 15 July 2016. 

Highlights

• •
  Many species listed by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels are declining because of bycatch or predation by alien species.
• •
  Effective bycatch mitigation measures are available but implementation is patchy.
• •
  Knowledge of bycatch rates remains poor for many fisheries.
• •
  Terrestrial threats, including disease and predation, are serious at some colonies.
• •
  Introduced species have been eradicated or controlled at key sites.

Abstract

Seabirds are amongst the most globally-threatened of all groups of birds, and conservation issues specific to albatrosses (Diomedeidae) and large petrels (Procellaria spp. and giant petrels Macronectes spp.) led to drafting of the multi-lateral Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). Here we review the taxonomy, breeding and foraging distributions, population status and trends, threats and priorities for the 29 species covered by ACAP. Nineteen (66%) are listed as threatened by IUCN, and 11 (38%) are declining. Most have extensive at-sea distributions, and the greatest threat is incidental mortality (bycatch) in industrial pelagic or demersal longline, trawl or artisanal fisheries, often in both national and international waters. Mitigation measures are available that reduce bycatch in most types of fisheries, but some management bodies are yet to make these mandatory, levels of implementation and monitoring of compliance are often inadequate, and there are insufficient observer programmes collecting robust data on bycatch rates. Intentional take, pollution (including plastic ingestion), and threats at colonies affect fewer species than bycatch; however, the impacts of disease (mainly avian cholera) and of predation by introduced species, including feral cats (Felis catus), rats (Rattusspp.) and house mice (Mus musculus), are severe for some breeding populations. Although major progress has been made in recent years in reducing bycatch rates and in controlling or eradicating pests at breeding sites, unless conservation efforts are intensified, the future prospects of many species of albatrosses and large petrels will remain bleak.

Keywords

Anthropogenic impacts

Conservation management

Invasive species

Non-target species

Population trends

Regional fisheries management organisations

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• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author.

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