Strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the Southwest Atlantic
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record Incidental mortality in trawl fisheries is a serious threat to seabird sustainability. Driven primarily by seabirds attracted to discards, limiting discard discharge through strategic batc...
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ftunivexeter:oai:ore.exeter.ac.uk:10871/128667 2024-09-15T18:07:28+00:00 Strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the Southwest Atlantic Kuepfer, A Sherley, RB Brickle, P Arkhipkin, A Votier, SC 2022 109462-109462 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/128667 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109462 en eng Elsevier Biological Conservation, 266 orcid:0000-0001-7367-9315 (Sherley, Richard B) Vol. 266, article 109462 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109462 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/128667 0006-3207 Biological Conservation © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. This version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 2023-01-29 Under embargo until 29 January 2023 in compliance with publisher policy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Seabird bycatch Discard management Southwest Atlantic Trawl fisheries Procellariiformes Article 2022 ftunivexeter https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109462 2024-07-29T03:24:14Z This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record Incidental mortality in trawl fisheries is a serious threat to seabird sustainability. Driven primarily by seabirds attracted to discards, limiting discard discharge through strategic batching is a best practice mitigation measure recommended by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). However, studies supporting the efficacy of batch discarding are rare, limited to the south-western Pacific, and assess seabird numbers attending vessels only, not gear contact rates. The effectiveness of batch discarding in areas with different seabird communities, fishery assemblages, and natural prey availability is therefore unknown. Here we quantify both seabird numbers and gear contact rates in response to strategic discard discharge in the Falkland Islands trawl fleet for two high-risk species groups: black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) and giant petrel species (Macronectes spp.). Specifically, we test the effect of three different discharge treatments (zero, batch and continuous discarding) at two vessels. Bird abundance and contact rates were positively related, but zero discarding consistently reduced seabird numbers attending trawlers and eliminated contacts with warp cables and tori-lines. Batching significantly reduced bird abundance and contact rates at the vessel that stored all discards between batches. At the other vessel, however, intermittent release of hashed viscera diminished the mitigation effect. Our findings validate the generality of batch discarding as an effective mitigation measure in trawl fisheries where zero discarding is not possible, whilst highlighting the importance of complete waste storage. Fortuna Ltd. Falkland Islands Government Article in Journal/Newspaper Giant Petrel University of Exeter: Open Research Exeter (ORE) Biological Conservation 266 109462 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Exeter: Open Research Exeter (ORE) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivexeter |
language |
English |
topic |
Seabird bycatch Discard management Southwest Atlantic Trawl fisheries Procellariiformes |
spellingShingle |
Seabird bycatch Discard management Southwest Atlantic Trawl fisheries Procellariiformes Kuepfer, A Sherley, RB Brickle, P Arkhipkin, A Votier, SC Strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the Southwest Atlantic |
topic_facet |
Seabird bycatch Discard management Southwest Atlantic Trawl fisheries Procellariiformes |
description |
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record Incidental mortality in trawl fisheries is a serious threat to seabird sustainability. Driven primarily by seabirds attracted to discards, limiting discard discharge through strategic batching is a best practice mitigation measure recommended by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). However, studies supporting the efficacy of batch discarding are rare, limited to the south-western Pacific, and assess seabird numbers attending vessels only, not gear contact rates. The effectiveness of batch discarding in areas with different seabird communities, fishery assemblages, and natural prey availability is therefore unknown. Here we quantify both seabird numbers and gear contact rates in response to strategic discard discharge in the Falkland Islands trawl fleet for two high-risk species groups: black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) and giant petrel species (Macronectes spp.). Specifically, we test the effect of three different discharge treatments (zero, batch and continuous discarding) at two vessels. Bird abundance and contact rates were positively related, but zero discarding consistently reduced seabird numbers attending trawlers and eliminated contacts with warp cables and tori-lines. Batching significantly reduced bird abundance and contact rates at the vessel that stored all discards between batches. At the other vessel, however, intermittent release of hashed viscera diminished the mitigation effect. Our findings validate the generality of batch discarding as an effective mitigation measure in trawl fisheries where zero discarding is not possible, whilst highlighting the importance of complete waste storage. Fortuna Ltd. Falkland Islands Government |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kuepfer, A Sherley, RB Brickle, P Arkhipkin, A Votier, SC |
author_facet |
Kuepfer, A Sherley, RB Brickle, P Arkhipkin, A Votier, SC |
author_sort |
Kuepfer, A |
title |
Strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the Southwest Atlantic |
title_short |
Strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the Southwest Atlantic |
title_full |
Strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the Southwest Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the Southwest Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the Southwest Atlantic |
title_sort |
strategic discarding reduces seabird numbers and contact rates with trawl fishery gears in the southwest atlantic |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10871/128667 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109462 |
genre |
Giant Petrel |
genre_facet |
Giant Petrel |
op_relation |
Biological Conservation, 266 orcid:0000-0001-7367-9315 (Sherley, Richard B) Vol. 266, article 109462 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109462 http://hdl.handle.net/10871/128667 0006-3207 Biological Conservation |
op_rights |
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. This version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 2023-01-29 Under embargo until 29 January 2023 in compliance with publisher policy https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109462 |
container_title |
Biological Conservation |
container_volume |
266 |
container_start_page |
109462 |
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1810444839647444992 |