Seabird Scoping Review
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AGREEMENT ON THE CONSERVATION OF Doc: AEWA/MOP 6.40 AFRICAN-EURASIAN MIGRATORY WATERBIRDS Agenda item: 25 Original: English Date: 10 September 2015 6th SESSION OF THE MEETING OF THE PARTIES 9-14 November 2015, Bonn, Germany “Making flyway conservation happen” REVIEW OF THE STATUS, THREATS AND CONSERVATION ACTION PRIORITIES FOR THE SEABIRD POPULATIONS COVERED BY THE AGREEMENT Introduction This scoping review was initiated with the view to inform prioritisation and streamlining of AEWA's seabird work. It involves a short overview of the status of AEWA seabird species and threats to these species and also outlines what various stakeholders are already doing, existing key gaps, and where AEWA could play a valuable role It was commissioned to BirdLife International, but due to late availability of funding, the timeline of the project did not match with the timeline of production of the other MOP6 documents thus a rough initial outline was presented to and approved by the Technical Committee (TC) at its 12th meeting in March 2015. Since then, the TC has been closely involved in the process, which has led to the development of the current second draft, which was reviewed by the TC and approved for submission by both the Technical and Standing Committees by correspondence in September 2015. Action requested from the Meeting of the Parties The Meeting of the Parties is invited to note this review and take its conclusions and recommendations into account in the decision-making process (draft Resolution AEWA/MOP6 DR9 Improving the Conservation Status of African-Eurasian Seabirds). 1 Review of the Status, Threats and Conservation Action Priorities for the Seabird Populations Covered by the Agreement REPORT TO THE AFRICAN-EURASIAN WATERBIRD AGREEMENT Final Draft- September 2015 Marguerite Tarzia, Christina Hagen, Ross Wanless 2 Recommended citation: Tarzia, M., Hagan, C., Wanless, R.M. 2015. Review of the Status, Threats and Conservation Action Priorities for the Seabird Populations Covered by the Agreement. Unpublished report to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement. 3 Acronyms and Abbreviations ACAP Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels ACAP Arctic Contaminants Action Programme AEWA African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement ATF Albatross Task Force CAFF Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna CCSBT Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation (of the United Nations) HELCOM Helsinki Convention IBA Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (including marine IBAs) ICCAT International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas IOTC Indian Ocean Tuna Commission IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature NPOA National Plan of Action SEAFO Southeast Atlantic Fisheries Organisation SWIOFC Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission RFMO Regional Fisheries Management Organisations PAME Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the North East Atlantic marine environment 4 Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. 3 Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Geographic scope of review ................................................................................................................... 9 AEWA listed seabird species ................................................................................................................. 14 Seabird Conservation Status, threats & conservation action ....................................................... 15-102 Arctic & sub-Arctic ............................................................................................................................ 15 Temperate North Atlantic ................................................................................................................. 40 Northern European Seas eco-region ............................................................................................ 40 Lusitanian eco-region .................................................................................................................... 60 Mediterranean & Black Seas eco-region ...................................................................................... 69 West African Tropical and north-temperate Atlantic ....................................................................... 78 Temperate Southern Africa ............................................................................................................... 87 East Africa (Western Indo-Pacific) .................................................................................................... 97 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 110 References .......................................................................................................................................... 113 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................. 122 5 Executive summary Eighty-four seabird species which are listed under Annex 2 of the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) are considered in this review, which covers the full geographic area of the Agreement. This review aims to synthesise and present the existing information on current conservation status and threats to listed seabird species (see Appendix I), and identify the relevant conservation actions, knowledge gaps and priorities for future work. Within the AEWA region, eight species are considered threatened, listed as either Vulnerable or Endangered on the IUCN Red List, a further five are considered ‘Near Threatened’ and the global population of twenty nine species are in decline. The specific threats and their impact on seabirds differ across the different biogeographic regions. Furthermore, our understanding of the threats and their impact is greatly hampered by the gaps in knowledge on seabird ecology, distribution at sea and their interaction with threatening processes. Despite these knowledge gaps, there is a great deal of consistency across the AEWA region on the key threats which can be identified as coupled climate/human impacts on prey (forage fish, ecosystem impacts), bycatch in fishing gear, human harvesting, invasive species predation, mortality from oil spills and contaminants and disturbance and mortality from at-sea developments such as from offshore energy and mining. The greatest concerns arising from this review includes the lack of scientific data to enable quantification of important causes of seabird mortality, such as bycatch and harvesting. Furthermore there is a major gap within the existing international and regional frameworks to enable a flyway scale overview of seabird mortality caused by human activities. This has left the Governments, scientists and managers of human activities unable to quickly respond to the plummeting populations of some seabird species. It has also restricted the making of informed and cohesive decisions on sustainable use of seabirds where this has traditionally occurred, or the management of coastal and marine activities to mitigate these impacts on seabirds. This review identifies the following cross cutting recommendations for regional conservation action across the entire AEWA region: Identification of pelagic sites for seabirds through tracking studies, and protection of these sites under existing marine protected area frameworks in national, regional and international fora. Identification of coastal sites for seabirds, particularly in the Arctic and Africa and protection under existing protected area frameworks and national processes. Consideration of existing protected areas in the context of climate change and seabird ecology. Quantification of seabird mortality from main sources (e.g. harvesting and bycatch) and incorporation into flyway-scale analysis to inform national and regional decision making on ‘sustainable use’ of seabirds. Monitor seabird bycatch in all types of fisheries, with a priority on gillnet bycatch, and develop effective mitigation solutions to gillnet bycatch. Understand the scale and impact of invasive predators on seabird populations across the region. Provide a coordination point for island eradication projects and map out a strategy for eradications across the region. Understand the scale and impact of contaminants, including marine litter on seabird species (other than Fulmar) Develop sub-regional oil spill mitigation strategies and post-spill monitoring schemes across the different AEWA biogeographic regions In furthering AEWA’s seabird conservation work, and in implementing the above recommendations, it is necessary to consider the existing multilateral environmental agreements and mechanisms concerned with marine conservation and the management of human activities and threats. These 6 MEAs offer an opportunity for AEWA to collaboratively work to conserve seabirds across the African-Eurasian flyway. The most relevant of these processes have been identified within each regional section; however this review has not provided recommendations for engagement with