Tracking Ocean Wanders (PDF, 5 MB) - BirdLife International

TRACKING
OCEAN WANDERERS
The global distribution of albatrosses and petrels
Results from the Global Procellariiform Tracking Workshop,
1–5 September, 2003, Gordon’s Bay, South Africa
Effective reduction of the threat to albatrosses and petrels requires accurate knowledge of their distribution
throughout their life-cycle stages and annual migrations. Such data are invaluable in identifying important
sea areas for foraging and migration, and in assessing the potential susceptibility of birds to mortality from
interaction with fishing vessels. These birds also provide an indication of other changes in marine systems,
such as climate change.
This report presents the results of a pioneering initiative, led by BirdLife International, in which scientists
from around the world have collaborated to assemble and analyse a global database that includes over 90%
of the world’s remote-tracking data of albatrosses and petrels.
These data:
• make a unique contribution to defining key areas and critical habitats for albatrosses;
identify national (e.g. within Exclusive Economic Zones) and international (e.g. through Regional
Fisheries Management Organisations) responsibilities for the conservation of albatrosses and petrels;
will be used to assess overlap and interaction between albatrosses and petrels and commercial fisheries,
especially longline fisheries in which bycatch is the major threat to most albatross populations.
The data, and the results presented in this report, will be a key tool for the conservation of albatrosses and
petrels. In particular:
they will be of immense assistance in developing and prioritising the work of the international Agreement
on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, designed to protect albatross and petrel habitats at land
and at sea;
they will facilitate the development of area and fishery-specific measures to reduce and eliminate the
killing of seabirds in commercial fishing operations.
BirdLife will seek to stimulate development of, and links to, similar databases for other pelagic marine
animals, especially other seabirds, marine mammals, turtles and migratory fish.