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Falklands
Conservation
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Highlights from
Warrah Issue 15 (April 1999)
Seabird Monitoring 1998-1999
By Becky Ingham
Becky Ingham, Field/Science Officer, outlines results from the fourteenth year of the Falkland Islands Seabird Monitoring Programme
Sites SurveyedOnce again this season saw a high variation in the productivity of penguin colonies around the Islands. A wide geographic area was covered, using sites from all over East Falkland, north at Seal Bay, east at Volunteer Point, west at Fanning Head and the far south at Bull Point. Colonies were also studied from Port Stephens on West Falkland and two offshore islands - to the north west, Saunders Island, and to the south west New Island
A Troubled Season for Gentoos?Gentoo penguins had a variable season. Productivity ranged from 0.35 to 1.10 chicks per breeding pair. One of the most noticeable traits was the large number of birds that returned to the colonies but did not breed. The behaviour of these birds was very similar to those breeding and care needed to be taken when assessing the genuine number of breeding pairs at a site. Generally, figures for breeding success were lower than last year for this species. An unusually high mortality of Gentoo chicks was noted at Volunteer Point, but strangely limited to only one of the four Gentoo colonies here. Samples of faeces and dead chicks were collected and examined. The likely cause of death was found to be a high number of stones in the stomach, causing rupturing of the stomach walls. No explanation has been found for this as yet. Department of Agriculture veterinary scientists are still investigating.
Rockys are More ProductiveRockhopper penguins had a much more successful year, with two of the study colonies achieving over 1 chick per breeding pair. Although considered by some seabird biologists to be impossible, this has been regularly seen around the Islands. Next year the FISMP will focus in on this and monitor the phenomenon closely. Two nests at Saunders Island were even noted to have three eggs, two of which hatched healthy chicks - and both survived. More fish was seen in the diet of Rockhoppers than last year, mainly small juvenile Falkland herring, a local inshore species. Both Magellan and Gentoo penguins appeared to be eating largely Nototheniid fish (Rock Cod) and large krill, which form aggregations around the Islands during summer.
Magellanic Survey Gets UnderwayMagellanic penguins also had a relatively highly productive year, with birds at Gypsy Cove producing 1.49 chicks per breeding pair, and Volunteer Point 1.42 chicks per breeding pair. Several test areas were used to determine densities of penguins around the coastline. This work will be continued by determining the area of nests over the austral winter, by use of a hand-held GPS system. A correlation of the areas occupied and the density of nests should enable the Falklands population to be assessed accurately for the first time.
All the Seabird Monitoring Data will be available in an annual report from the end of April, price £5.
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Seabird Mortality in Longline Fisheries: A Global Problem Being Addressed
By John Cooper
Longline Fishing is Focus of Global ConcernIn every ocean of the World, longline fishing vessels set and haul their lines, bringing aboard cod, hake, tuna, swordfish and Patagonian toothfish - and seabirds. Longlining has been commonly regarded as an "environmentally friendly" fishing technique. Yet it now has the concerted attention of environmental NGOs such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and BirdLife International (BLI), as well as a number of intergovernmental organizations - the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Commissions for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT).
Reports in the early 1990s from Australia of tens of thousands of albatrosses being killed in the Southern Ocean by tuna longliners first led to this attention. A resolution 'Incidental Mortality of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries' adopted by IUCN at its First World Conservation Congress in Montreal, Canada in October 1996 (officially supported by Falklands Conservation) led BirdLife International, to inaugurate its Seabird Conservation Programme in 1997, with a global review of seabird mortality caused by longline fisheries as its first major project.
Longlines Cause Extensive Killing of SeabirdsSeabirds are being killed in large numbers in the North Atlantic, northeastern Pacific, South Atlantic and Southern Oceans. Only in the warm seas of the tropics, where seabirds are generally few in number, are reports of mortality few or lacking. In the Northern Hemisphere the species of greatest conservation concern is the Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus, an IUCN Endangered species because of its very small population. U.S. regulations allow for fishery closures in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea if four birds are hooked within two years. In fact two birds have been killed on U.S. longlines in 1998, so the fishers are understandably worried and are working closely with government and NGOs towards altering their fishing practices to avoid killing any more birds in 1999 and placing their livelihoods in jeopardy.
Problems in the South AtlanticIn the Southern Hemisphere, apart from albatrosses such as the Black-browed Mollymauk Thalassarche melanophrys, large numbers of petrels are killed on hooks, especially the Whitechinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis, by the hake fisheries off southern Africa and South America and for Patagonian toothfish off South America, in the vicinity of the Falklands and elsewhere in the Southern Ocean. A closely-related and only recently described species, the endemic Spectacled Petrel P. conspicillata of Inaccessible Island in the South Atlantic, has an estimated population of only about a thousand breeding pairs. The hundreds that are thought to be killed annually by longliners off Brazil suggest this Endangered species is in grave danger.
Research into Mitigation MethodsIn both hemispheres seabird mortality has encouraged research into mitigation methods.
Early work was conducted in Australia, pioneered by Nigel Brothers of the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service. Several longlining nations are now experimenting with underwater-setting devices which have been designed to keep baited hooks out of sight of birds. Since every hooked bird is one less fish potentially caught (and many baits are taken by birds without themselves becoming hooked) fishers should be quick to see the economic advantages of reducing bird bycatch.
In 1997 the FAO's Committee on Fisheries (COFI) agreed to hold a consultation on Reduction of Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries. A Seabird Technical Working Group drafted an International Plan of Action in Tokyo, Japan in March 1998 for adoption by COFI in February 1999. The voluntary IPOA-SEABIRDS will require longline fishing nations adopting it to practice mitigation methods and to report on progress to the FAO in 2002. Three members of the working group, Nigel Brothers, John Cooper and Svein Lokkeborg, have written a monograph for the FAO that describes longline fishing and fisheries, seabird bycatch on a global scale and recommended mitigation measures. The FAO intends to publish the review in both English and Spanish texts in early 1999.
Another exciting development are plans to negotiate a "Range State Agreement" for albatrosses under the terms of the Bonn Convention on Highly Migratory Species of Wild Animals. Such an Agreement, in which the Valdivia Group of Temperate Southern hemisphere Countries on the Environment is taking the lead, would require signatory nations to improve the conservation status of their breeding albatrosses, and so further control of longliner-caused mortality would be expected.
Concerns about Pirate FishingAlthough the above activities should go a long way to reducing seabird mortality from longline fisheries, there remains one area of serious concern: pirate fishing. In the Southern Ocean especially, many illegal and unregulated longliners, often sailing under flags of convenience, have greatly overfished Patagonian Toothfish stocks, killing huge numbers of seabirds in the process. Only concerted efforts through international agreements such as CCAMLR, with penalties imposed at home and unloading ports, as well as spy satellites tracking and naval patrols arresting miscreant vessels, will result in longline fisheries being managed sustainably and in far fewer birds being killed.
Towards a Safe Future for SeabirdsWith the collaboration of governments, international organizations, environmental NGOs and the fishing industry it is hoped that come the next millenium, longlining can once more be regarded as an environmentally friendly fishing technique, and the World's seabirds will be able to fly their oceans without risk of being hooked.
John Cooper is the co-ordinator of BirdLife International's Seabird Conservation Programme based in the Avian Demography Unit, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Information on the Programme can be found on its web site: www.uct.ac.za/depts/stats/adu/seabirds.
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The Work of the Environmental Planning Department
By Tom Eggling
The Environmental Planning Department (EPD) was set up in 1997 and is a small branch of the Secretariat of the Falkland Islands Government (FIG). It is headed by Tom Eggeling, a planning officer with a keen interest in natural history. He is ably assisted by his deputy, Sinead Doherty, who is an environmental scientist, and by his secretary, Paula Newell.
Functions of the DepartmentThe Department is mainly concerned with the use and apportionment of land for development (development planning) and the guidance and control of development (development control), but also includes conservation and protection of the natural and built environment (environmental conservation). This is an area of work which is likely to assume greater importance once the new environmental legislation has been enacted, and National Nature Reserves and wetland sites of international importance (under the Ramsar Convention) are designated, management plans drawn up and agreements concluded.
Designation of Ramsar SitesFIG recognises the national and international importance of its wildlife habitats and communities, and is committed to their conservation. However, new environmental legislation is required if the wildlife communities in the Falklands are to be afforded adequate protection. For instance, candidate sites for designation under the Ramsar Convention as wetland sites of international importance have been identified by Falklands Conservation but cannot be designated until they are given adequate protection (i.e. National Nature Reserve status). The Department will shortly be recommending to ExCo that, with the agreement of the landowners concerned, at least four of those sites (Pebble Island East, Lake Sulivan/R Doyle, Bertha's Beach and Sea Lion Island) are submitted for designation as soon as they have been given statutory protection.
Overseeing New Wildlife BillThe Conservation of Wildlife and Nature Bill has been drafted by the Attorney General to provide that protection. The Bill has been advertised widely and a number of representations have been submitted for consideration by the The Environment Committee. A report, recommending that the Bill be amended and forwarded to Legislative Council, is now being prepared for the Executive Council (ExCo).
Site Rehabilitation at Albemarle, West FalklandOver the last two years, the EPD has been responsible for the incineration of heavy fuel oil and limited site rehabilitation around the former sealing station at Albemarle, West Falkland. In summer, when the oil becomes warm enough to run, it has been seeping from the old storage tank and over the years has contaminated the ground and foreshore. All the oil in the storage tank has now been burnt and the remaining oily water decanted into 40-gallon drums for final disposal. By the end of April, all the scrap metal and other rubbish will have been land-filled and the storage tank dismantled for re-use or disposal.
Habitat Restoration at Cape PembrokeThe Department has also been working closely with Falklands Conservation on a Management Plan for Cape Pembroke. Under the Military Aid to Civil Communities (MACC) scheme, large areas of damaged sand dunes at Yorke Bay will be fenced off to prevent access, allow sand to accumulate and encourage the re-establishment of tussac grass. Limited sand extraction will continue in other areas but will be closely monitored. The Department of Agriculture has established a number of experimental plots to ascertain the best means of encouraging re-vegetation of eroded areas, and the results of this work will be used by the EPD to further increase the conservation value of the site.
Environmental Forum and CommitteeTo address early concerns about the potential environmental impacts of oil-related activities in offshore waters around the Falkland Islands, the Falklands Environmental Task Group (FENTAG) was established in 1994 to provide advice to the oil management team on environmental matters. In 1997, the Falkland Islands Exploration and Production Environmental Forum (FIEPEF) replaced it. The Forum provides a mechanism whereby representatives from the oil industry, Government and other interested parties can come together to discuss measures to protect the environment from oil-related activities or proposals for ongoing environmental baseline survey work.
An Environmental Committee has also been established to consider, discuss and make recommendations to ExCo on a wide variety of environmental issues. Recommendations from FIEPEF are channelled to ExCo via the Environmental Committee, which has a much wider remit to consider such things as national parks, marine and terrestrial conservation, waste management and disposal, environmental pollution and ongoing environmental baseline survey or research work. The EPD is represented on and provides the secretariat for both the Forum and the Environmental Committee.
The Environmental Studies BudgetThe Department also manages or supervises environmental baseline surveys and research sponsored by FIG under its Environmental Studies Budget.
Over the four-year period 1998-2001, approximately £500,000 will be provided by FIG to fund environmental baseline surveys and research. The British Antarctic Survey has been contracted to undertake research into the foraging range of Black-browed Albatrosses from breeding colonies on Saunders Island. Preliminary results highlight the importance of the northern part of Falkland Sound as a feeding area and complement data collected from the Seabirds at Sea Survey. Funding for the second year of this Survey is to be provided by FIG to Falklands Conservation, working with a UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee Team on this Project.
A Key Role to PlayThe results from these and future studies will provide a baseline for assessing the impact of commercial fisheries and oil-related activities around the Falkland Islands and for addressing other environmental concerns. A start has been made but a lot more work is required. The Department's role is a challenging and wide ranging one with a crucial and important part to play in the environmental future of these Islands.
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Falklands Conservation UK Charity 1073859
Patron: HRH The Duke of York CVO ADC
Member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature | BirdLife International Representative
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