Net Loss – Seabirds Gain? Implications of Fisheries Management for Seabirds Scavenging

• Main Authors: Discards Northern, North Sea, S. A. Reeves, R. W. Furness
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catharacta skua; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.561.672

i The North Sea is important both for fisheries and for seabird populations. Current fishing practices in the northern North Sea fishery for cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) and whiting (Merlangius merlangus) lead to substantial wastage of undersized haddock and whiting which are discarded and thus available as a food supply for seabirds. The North Sea has important populations of scavenging seabirds, for which discards and offal, especially of haddock and whiting, are an important food source. When considered as a proportion of the biogeographic population, the North Sea is particularly important for great skuas (Catharacta skua) and great black-backed gulls (Larus marinus). Fishery management measures which alter the availability of discards and offal in the North Sea may thus have an impact on the region’s seabird populations. This report addresses the fisheries and seabirds of the North Sea with the aim of identifying likely impacts of recent and future fishery management measures on seabird populations. The roundfish fisheries, particularly for haddock and whiting, are discussed with special reference to discarding and offal production, and how these activities might be affected by changes in fishery management