Project

2569

Chief Investigator

GALES, Dr Rosemary - Department of Primary Industries & Water

Title

Conservation and population status of albatrosses and giant petrels on Macquarie Island

Project aims

Across the Southern Ocean populations of albatrosses and giant petrels have declined as a result of interactions with fishing operations. In 2003 it was estimated that around 250,000 albatrosses and petrels have been killed on longlines in the Southern Hemisphere in the last three years alone. Seabirds on Macquarie Island are no exception. In Tasmania the survival of all four albatross species and the two giant petrel species breeding on Macquarie Island is threatened (Endangered – Wandering albatross, Grey-headed albatross, Black-browed albatross; Vulnerable – light mantled albatross, Southern Giant Petrel; Rare – Northern Giant Petrel). Ongoing monitoring of their population numbers and survival rates is essential in order to assess their conservation status and identify any influences that may be impacting upon them. This program seeks to continue a long term monitoring program of albatrosses and giant petrels on Macquarie Island through counts and banding of the birds. Long term, studies are required to obtain reliable information on population size and productivity, adult and juvenile survival rates, and age- and sex-related effects on reproductive performance and survival. The oceanic movements of the birds (assessed via satellite tracking) will be investigated so that questions regarding temporal and spatial overlap with fishing operations can be addressed. With this knowledge we will be well placed to identify the factors impacting on the vulnerable populations and be in a position to provide appropriate input into management protocols. All aspects of this program have been identified as priority actions in the Albatross and Giant Petrel Recovery Plan (Environment Anstralia 2001).

Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature

Gales R. (1998) Albatross populations: Status and Threats, Robertson G., Gales R. (eds) Biology and conservation of Albatrosses 20-45; [Ref: 8268]

Croxall J.C., Gales R.G. (1998) An assessment of the Conservation status of albatrosses, in: Robertson G., Gales R. (eds) Albatross Conservation and Biology 46-65; [Ref: 8533]

Terauds A., Gales R. (2006) Provisioning strategies and growth patterns of Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses Phoebetria palpebrata on Macquarie Island, Polar Biology ; [Ref: 12433]

Alderman R., Double M.C., Valencia J., Gales R.P. (2005) Genetic affinities of newly sampled populations of Wandering and Black-browed Albatross, Emu 105. 169-179; [Ref: 12434]

Terauds A., Gales R., Baker G.B., Alderman R. (2006) Population and survival trends of Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) breeding on Macquarie Island, Emu 106. 211-218; [Ref: 12688]

Terauds A., Gales R., Alderman R. (2006) Trends in numbers and survival of Black-browed (Thalassarche melanophrys) and Grey-headed (T. chrysostoma) Albatrosses breeding on Macquarie Island, Emu 105. 159-167; [Ref: 12689]

Terauds A., Gales R., Baker G.B., Alderman R. (2006) Foraging areas of black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses breeding on Macquarie Island in relation to marine protected areas, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater ecosystems 16. 133-146; [Ref: 12691]

Waugh S.M., Baker G.B., Gales R., Croxall J.P. (2007) CCAMLR process of risk assessment to minimise the effects of longline fishing mortality on seabirds, Marine Policy ; [Ref: 13334]

Cooper J., Baker G.B., Double M.C., Gales R., Papworth W., Tasker M.L., Waugh S.M. (2006) The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels: rationale, history, progress and the way forward, Marine Ornithology 34. 1-5; [Ref: 13335]

Trebilco R., Gales R., Baker G.B., Terauds A., Sumner M.D. (2008) At sea movement of Macquarie Island giant petrels: Relationships with marine protected areas and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, Biological Conservation 141. 2942-2958; [Ref: 13550]

Gales R. (2008) Albatross: Flagship taxa at Half Mast, in: de Roy T., Jones M., Fritter J. (eds) Albatross: their World, their Ways 148-157; [Ref: 13696]

Techow N.M.S.M., O'Ryan C., Phillips R.A., Gales R., Marin M., Patterson-Fraser D., Quintana F., Ritz M.S., Thompson D.R., Wanless R.M., Weimerskirch H., Ryan P.G. (2009) Speciation and phylogeography of giant petrels Macronectes, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution ; [Ref: 13957]

Trebilco R., Gales R., Lawrence E., Alderman R., Robertson G., Baker G.B. (2010) Characterizing seabird bycatch in the Eastern Australian Tuna and Billfish pelagic longline fishery in relation to temporal, spatial and biological influences, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 12pp; [Ref: 14157]

Alderman R., Gales R., Hobday A.J., Candy S.G. (2010) Post-fledging survival and dispersal of shy albatross from three breeding colonies in Tasmania, Marine Ecology Progress Series 405. 271-285; [Ref: 14185]

Wakefield E.D., Phillips R.A., Trathan P.N., Arata J., Gales R., Huin N., Robertson G., Waugh S.M., Weimerskirch H., Matthiopoulos J. (2011) Habitat preference, accessibility, and competition limit the global distribution of breeding Black-browed Albatrosses, Ecological Monographs 81(1). 141-167; [Ref: 14414]

Category 2: International meeting papers

Trebilco R., Gales R., Baker B., Terauds A. (2006) The use of CCAMLR statistical sub-areas 88.1 and 88.2, and Division 58.4.1 by Macquarie Island Giant Petrels, CCAMLR Scientific Papers WG-FSA-06/49; [Ref: 13336]