Seabird breeding population size on the Antarctic Peninsula related to fisheries activities in non-breeding ranges off South America

Population growth of the southern giant petrel Macronectes giganteus from South America has been linked with an increase in fishing activities. It was demonstrated recently that a population from Elephant Island, Antarctic Peninsula, largely overlaps its non-breeding distribution with zones of high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAntarctic science Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 495 - 498
Main Authors Krüger, Lucas, Paiva, Vitor H., Petry, Maria V., Ramos, Jaime A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.12.2017
Subjects
Aquatic birds
Biological Sciences
Biology
Breeding
Cephalopod fisheries
Discards
Dynamics
Fisheries
Fishing
Food sources
Interactions
Islands
Macronectes giganteus
Marine molluscs
Ornithology
Polar environments
Population
Population growth
Population number
Population studies
Seabirds
Standard deviation
Trends
South America
Argentina
Antarctic Peninsula
Falkland Islands
Uruguay
Elephant Island
demersal fisheries
non-breeding ecology
southern giant petrel
Macronectes giganteus
squid fisheries
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Summary:Population growth of the southern giant petrel Macronectes giganteus from South America has been linked with an increase in fishing activities. It was demonstrated recently that a population from Elephant Island, Antarctic Peninsula, largely overlaps its non-breeding distribution with zones of high fishing intensity off South America. This study investigated the assumption that the increase in this population since the 1980s is related to an increase in fisheries off South America. Our results show that the population size is proportional to the increase in demersal and squid fisheries. These fisheries produce a considerable amount of discards, which can be used by non-breeding southern giant petrels as a food source during unfavourable conditions in winter. This may enhance the adult survival rates with potential carry-over effects on population size. Our study shows that we need to further understand the effects of fishery discards/offal on scavenging seabirds of the Southern Ocean, and highlights the importance of understanding the carry-over effects of seabird–fisheries interactions during the non-breeding phase in population dynamics.
ISSN:0954-1020
1365-2079
DOI:10.1017/S0954102017000207