Endangered albatrosses killed
A single boat caught and killed four endangered Antipodean wandering species over a two-hour period while fishing of the East Cape.
The boat, part of New Zealand’s fleet, was fishing for Pacific bluefin tuna on March 10.
It was fishing within domestic rules, but conservation experts say those regulations are weak – and don’t match tougher international standards.
There are an estimated 31,900 Antipodean albatrosses left and only 9050 breeding pairs. And without tighter restrictions, the endemic bird is likely to die out.
‘‘It was kind of like a massacre,’’ Forest & Bird seabird advocate Sue Maturin said. ‘‘We’re just not doing enough to protect them.
‘‘The population is declining so rapidly, every bird counts, so we can’t afford to be catching any Antipodean albatrosses.
‘‘They don’t have the luxury of time. Scientists have suggested that they’re potentially functionally extinct within 20 or 30 years.’’
Earlier this year, the Antipodean albatross was given the most serious threat classification in the Convention of Migratory Species, alongside blue whales and snow leopards.
Industrial fishing is the main threat to the rare creature, as the birds become entangled in longlines and drown.
Ten antipodean albatross were reported killed by New Zealand fishing vessels last year, including five by one vessel in the Bay of Plenty.
The population has declined sharply over the last 16 years, and over half the females at the main breeding colony, on Antipodes Island, vanished at sea. They forage over the continental shelf edge and deep water from south of West Australia to the coast of Chile.
It is one of nature’s most tragic love stories. A pair mate for life – living as long as 60 years – and nest only every two years. The courting birds perform an elaborate courting ritual of dances, bill clapping and a sequence of calls, screams and roars. They are feathered giants, with a wingspan of up to three metres.
The female lays a single egg, between December and February and it takes an entire year to hatch and raise the chick. Both of the pair incubate and care for the eggs, taking three-week long shifts nesting on the islands’ grassy tussocks.
When a bird dies at sea, their mate will continue to wait for their return.
At the current rate of decline, there will be fewer than 500 breeding pairs within 20 years.
The most obvious threat to the seabirds is death by industrial fishing lines. They feed by scavenging squid and fish from the surface of the waves and are attracted to boats because they provide an easy meal.
As well as fishing, changing ocean conditions associated with climate change are reducing their access to prey.
Data released to Forest & Bird, under the Official Information Act, revealed the deaths.
They were reported to Fisheries NZ and the Department of Conservation, by the skipper and a fisheries observer on board. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash was also told, that week.
The vessel was setting lines during the day – against the advice of international seabird experts, but not against New Zealand rules. It caught five seabirds.
A National Plan of Action for Seabirds was released by the Government last month. Its goal is zero seabird deaths at the hands of commercial fishing companies.
But experts and conservationists say it falls short because the plan relies on voluntary measures and self-reporting.