Among the delegates to the international symposium and workshop on the conservation of albatrosses and petrels held in the Falkland Islands last week was Professor Carlos Moreno, Director of the Ecological Institute of the Universidad Austral de Chile.
Professor Moreno has been concerned with the conservation of albatross and other oceanic birds since 1996, when he became Convener of The Incidental Mortality Arising from Longline Fishing (IMALF) Working Group for the CCAMLAR Convention Area, the multi-national convention which regulates fishing in the Antarctic, where one of the largest long-line fisheries in the world currently operates. From this group have come all the measures for the mitigation of incidental seabird mortality now required to be employed in Antarctic waters.
With this background, it was perhaps inevitable that Professor Moreno should become involved in moves in his own country, Chile, to introduce a National Plan of Action in conjunction with the Chilean Fisheries Department.
In the south of Chile, on the islands of Diego Ramirez, Idelfonso and Diego de Almagro as well as around the Evangelista lighthouse at the Pacific mouth of the Straits of Magellan, there are four important albatross colonies, the largest of which has in excess of 200,000 pairs. During the investigation stages of the National Plan, a mortality rate from fishing activities of between 1500 and 2000 birds a year was discovered, with the principal species affected being the Black-browed albatross.
Professor Moreno told Mercopress that since the implementation by Chilean fishing vessels of mitigation measures, as part of the National Plan of Action, there has been a reduction in incidental mortality of some 56% per cent. The National Plan of Action is an ongoing process made possible largely because Chile has one of the most regulated fisheries in the world. With further targeting of ships that continue to report high levels of incidental seabird mortality, together with further refinement of mitigation measures and some changes in fishing methods brought about in order to reduce catch losses resulting from depredation by orcas and other whales, Professor Moreno states that Chile hopes to attain the ultimate goal of zero mortality within two years.
If there is good news for the albatross of the Southern Pacific, it is not shared by those that spend time in the Atlantic waters off Brazil. Tatiana Neves, in Stanley for the ACAP conference, where she represented Brazil's Projeto Albatroz, a non-governmental organisation set up in 1991, told Mercopress that an estimated 10,000 birds are killed annually by the Brazilian fishery south of the 20° parallel.
Feeding off the coast of Southern Brazil are to be found all the young black-browed albatross from the colonies in the Falkland Islands, who go there directly after leaving the nest and remain until they are mature enough to begin breeding. More amazingly, it is to these fish-rich waters at the confluence of two great oceanic currents that female albatross come from South Georgia seeking food for their young. Obviously the death of a parent bird during such an epic 'voyage to the shops' will have tragic consequences for the waiting young on the nest and possibly for the other partner.
Projeto Albatroz is working with the Brazilian Institute for the Environment to introduce a national plan of compliance to mitigate accidental sea bird mortality as a consequence of the fishing effort. This plan will have four main elements: education of fishermen at the three important levels of owners, captains and crew, incentives in terms of certification depending on compliance, legislation and monitoring of the activities of fishing vessels.
Although the process is not yet as well-developed in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Peru as in Chile, Tatiana and other Latin American delegates to the Stanley Conference reported that theses countries were beginning 'to go in the same direction'. An important 'next step' not only for the Brazilian fishery, but also for other Latin American countries, will be the South American Fisheries Forum, the first of its kind, which will be held in Brasilia during the first week of December and will bring together representatives of all the South American fisheries where accidental by-catch is a concern. Also present will be conservation organisations such as Projeto Alabatroz, Care for the Wild (UK), Southern Seabirds Solutions (NZ) and the Birdlife International 'Save the Albatross' Campaign.
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