Plight of NZ petrel worse than thought

Jamie Morton

science The range of an endangered New Zealand seabird overlaps with trawl fishing activity more than conservationists previously realised.

The Westland petrel is one of the last petrel species left on the mainland of New Zealand, and inhabits much of the same breeding range on the West Coast of the South Island as it did before humans arrived.

Westland petrels are threatened by a range of predators, including trawlers — the species is the 10th most at-risk species from the impacts of commercial fishing.

In a new study, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa’s Susan Waugh and her colleagues outfitted 73 petrels with GPS loggers over the course of four breeding seasons to track where they went during their foraging trips in the Tasman Sea.

Results showed the birds’ core feeding areas were consistent from year to year, located within 250km of their breeding colonies and focused on highly productive areas where the seafloor is steeply sloped.

But these sites often overlapped with areas of significant trawl fishing activity, and the researchers found further study was needed to see whether this translated to birds being accidentally killed.

However, it now appeared that the threat to the species from fishing could be greater than first thought.

“These birds predictably use the same waters year in and year out, regardless of El Nino cycles, and they are therefore a great candidate for a marine protected area to create protection of their trophic relationships.”