Resource Ecology and Ecosystem Modeling - Seabirds
Seabird Fishery Interaction Research
The Alaska Fishery Science Center is currently increasing its research
emphasis on seabird fishery interactions, and incorporating seabirds
into ecosystems models being developed for the Bering Sea and Gulf of
Alaska. This increased emphasis is partially in response to several
national efforts by NOAA Fisheries to focus more effort on minimizing
bycatch through fishing gear improvements, standardized reporting, and
education and outreach. These strategies are more fully outlined in
the recently published National Bycatch Strategy(.pdf),
and more specifically, on seabird bycatch, as noted by the National
Plan of Action to reduce seabird bycatch in longline fisheries(.pdf).
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This national focus coincides with work that the Science Center has
already been engaged in to characterize all components of seabird
mortality from commercial fishing operations, and work collaboratively
with the fishing industry and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
reduce or eliminate seabird bycatch. This latter issue is being driven
by the overlap between distribution of the endangered short-tailed
albatross and commercial fishery operations. There have been several
mortalities of these endangered seabirds from longline fisheries, and
much collaborative work has been completed to date (see Alaska Region
webpage).
Current priorities include continued work to reduce longline seabird
bycatch, investigating the incidence of seabird interactions with
trawl third wires, developing options for monitoring halibut fleet
seabird bycatch, and developing reporting procedures to ensure the
public has access to seabird bycatch rates and the results of various
studies being conducted. A summary of seabird bycatch from 1993-2004 (.pdf, 500KB)
reports the estimated bycatch rates and numbers for select species groups. Seabird bycatch estimates for 2005 (.pdf, 107KB) are reported by fishery region and by target fishery. Seabird bycatch estimates for 2006 (.pdf, 106KB) are reported by fishery region and by target fishery.
Recent Contributions to the AFSC Quarterly Report
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