Abstract
Commercial fisheries currently pose a serious threat at sea to the conservation of a number of pelagic seabirds. However, these interactions are complex, and reports on population-specific bycatch in the high seas are scarce. Here we report the case of an Indian yellow-nosed albatross Thalassarche carteri re-sighted on Amsterdam Island after an apparent capture by an Indonesian long-liner, as indicated by a message attached to the bird. This record demonstrates that Amsterdam birds may interact with long-liners indeed, at least during winter, and that such interactions are not systematically lethal. We suggest that bycatch sub-lethal effects should be investigated at colonies with high risks of individual capture at sea.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Anderson ORJ, Small CJ, Croxall JP, Dunn EK, Sullivan BJ, Yates O, Black A (2011) Global seabird bycatch in longline fisheries. Endang Species Res 14:91–106
Association Amicale des Missions Australes et Polaires Françaises (1998) Trois naufrages pour trois îles: Terres Australes Françaises au XIXe siècle. Editions de La Dyle
Barbraud C, Marteau C, Delord K, Weimerskirch H (2011) Demographic responses of white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis and grey petrels P. cinerea to climate and longline fishery bycatch. In: Welsford D, Duhamel G (eds) The Kerguelen Plateau: Marine Ecosystem and Fisheries. Société Française d’Ichtyologie, Paris, pp 287–289
BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Thalassarche carteri. http://www.birdlife.org. Accessed 06 Mar 2015
Bugoni L, McGill RAR, Furness RW (2010) The importance of pelagic longline fishery discards for a seabird community determined through stable isotope analysis. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 391:190–200
Croxall JP, Butchart SHM, Lascelles B, Stattersfield AJ, Sullivan B, Symes A, Taylor P (2012) Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment. Bird Conserv Int 22:1–34
Delord K, Barbraud C, Bost CA, Deceuninck B, Lefebvre T, Lutz R, Micol T, Phillips RA, Trathan PN, Weimerskirch H (2014) Areas of importance for seabirds tracked from French southern territories, and recommendations for conservation. Mar Policy 48:1–13
Gales R, Brothers N, Reid T (1998) Seabird mortality in the Japanese tuna longline fishery around Australia, 1988–1995. Biol Conserv 86:37–56
Huang HW, Liu KM (2010) Bycatch and discards by Taiwanese large-scale tuna longline fleets in the Indian Ocean. Fish Res 106:261–270
IOTC (2015) The Legal Framework—IOTC requirements for fisheries data and levels of compliance. Compliance workshop: collection and reporting of fisheries data to IOTC, Mauritius, 18–20 March 2014. http://www.iotc.org/sites/default/files/documents/2014/04/2-Legal_Framework.pptx. Accessed 06 Mar 2015
Lebreton JD, Véran S (2013) Direct evidence of the impact of longline fishery on mortality in the Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes. Bird Conserv Int 23:25–35
Lewison R, Oro D, Godley B, Underhill L, Bearhop S, Wilson R, Ainley D, Arcos JM, Boersma PD, Borboroglu P, Boulinier T, Frederiksen M, Genovart M, González-Solís J, Green JA, Grémillet D, Hamer KC, Hilton GM, Hyrenbach KD, Martínez-Abraín A, Montevecchi WA, Phillips RA, Ryan PG, Sagar P, Sydeman WJ, Yorio P, Wanless S, Watanuki Y, Weimerskirch H (2012) Research priorities for seabirds: improving seabird conservation and management in the 21st century. Endang Species Res 17:93–121
Nel DC, Nel JL (1999) Marine debris and fishing gear associated with seabirds at sub-Antarctic Marion Island, 1996/97 and 1997/98: in relation to longline fishing activity. CCAMLR Sci 6:85–96
Otley H, Reid T, Phillips RA, Wood A, Phalan B, Forster I (2007) Origin, age, sex and breeding status of wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans), northern (Macronectes halli) and southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) attending demersal longliners in Falkland Islands and Scotia Ridge waters, 2001–2005. Polar Biol 30:359–368
Petersen SL, Honig MB, Ryan PG, Underhill LG (2009) Seabird bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery off southern Africa. Afr J Mar Sci 31:191–204
Phillips RA, Ridley C, Reid K, Pugh PJA, Tuck G, Harrison N (2010) Ingestion of fishing gear and entanglements of seabirds: monitoring and implications for management. Biol Conserv 143:501–512
Rolland V, Barbraud C, Weimerskirch H (2009) Assessing the impact of fisheries, climate and disease on the dynamics of the Indian yellow-nosed albatross. Biol Conserv 142:1084–1095
Sakamoto KQ, Takahashi A, Iwata T, Trathan PN (2009) From the eye of the albatrosses: a bird-borne camera shows an association between albatrosses and a killer whale in the Southern Ocean. PLoS One 4:e7322
Weimerskirch H (2004) Diseases threaten Southern Ocean albatrosses. Polar Biol 27:374–379
Weimerskirch H, Jouventin P (1998) Changes in population sizes and demographic parameters of six albatross species breeding on the French sub-antarctic islands. In: Robertson G, Gales R (eds) Albatross biology and conservation. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, pp 84–91
Weimerskirch H, Jouventin P, Mougin JL, Stahl JC, van Beveren M (1985) Banding recoveries and the dispersal of seabirds breeding in French Austral and Antarctic Territories. Emu 85:22–33
Wilson SM, Raby GD, Burnett NJ, Hinch SG, Cooke SJ (2014) Looking beyond the mortality of bycatch: sublethal effects of incidental capture on marine animals. Biol Conserv 171:61–72
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Fieldwork was supported financially and logistically by the Institut Polaire Français Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV, Program No. 109: resp. H. Weimerskirch), the Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF), and the Zone Atelier Antarctique (INSU-CNRS).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thiebot, JB., Demay, J., Marteau, C. et al. The rime of the modern mariner: evidence for capture of yellow-nosed albatross from Amsterdam Island in Indian Ocean longline fisheries. Polar Biol 38, 1297–1300 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1680-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1680-5