Rationale
(Changed due to Genuine (recent))
The regional breeding population of Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri has been quantified at c. 7 000 mature individuals which breed at a single location in the region, namely Prince Edward Island. The species is globally Endangered due to an inferred and predicted continuous decline of greater than 50% over a 71 year period (three generations) satisfying criterion A4 (an observed, estimated, inferred, projected or suspected population size reduction of >50% over a three generation period, where the time period must include both the past and the future, and where the reduction or its causes may not have ceased OR may not be understood OR may not be reversible). The global status of Endangered is adopted as the regional status.
Distribution
The species breeds on the French Subantarctic island groups of Amsterdam, St Paul, Crozet, the Kerguelen Islands and on South Africa's Prince Edward Island (Ryan et al. 2009). From these islands it disperses widely across the southern Indian Ocean moving marginally into the east Atlantic and west Pacific oceans. The exact distribution in the South Atlantic Ocean is little known due to confusion with the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross (Ryan 2005). The species is common off the south and east coasts of South Africa, but rarely ventures further north than 20°S.
Population
The global population has been quantified at c. 41 500 breeding pairs (BirdLife International 2014). The regional population is estimated to be c. 7 000 pairs equating to roughly 17% of the global population (Ryan et al. 2009). Confidence in this population estimate is low as the population estimate included considerable extrapolation.
Population trend
Globally the species was estimated to have declined at a rate of greater than 50% over three generations assuming a continuous decline at Amsterdam Island (BirdLife International 2014). The Amsterdam Island calculations were based on a study plot, which declined at 3.7% per year in 1978-2005, while the whole Amsterdam Island population declined by c. 1.3% yearly between 1982-2006 (BirdLife International 2014). Although current data suggest the Prince Edward Island population is stable, this is not based on long-term data. Of the six islands that the species breeds on, only on Amsterdam Island have there been any regular surveys of breeding pairs (ACAP 2009). It is quite possible that there are long-term declines at Prince Edward Island taking place in line with the decrease in the global population. This is however impossible to detect with the short time-series available. Confidence in the regional population trend estimate is low.
Threats
There are no known threats to breeding birds at Prince Edward Island itself. Disease recorded from Amsterdam Island (Weimerskirch 2004) has not been recorded at Prince Edward Island and there are no introduced predators. Threats at sea are primarily from bycatch in tuna longline fishing as well as through being drowned when accidentally entangled in trawl fishing cables in demersal trawl fishing in South African territorial waters (Watkins et al. 2008, Maree et al. 2014). Trawling on sea-mounts in the south-western Indian Ocean is a potential threat but data are lacking. Likewise, ingestion of plastic litter may be a potential threat to the species but needs to be quantified.
Conservation
Underway
The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources has implemented highly effective measures to prevent accidental mortality of birds during longline fishing operations for toothfish. BirdLife South Africa's Albatross Task force is actively researching new technologies to reduce incidental mortality, particularly in tuna longline fisheries, which threaten this species and other seabirds. It also supports the construction and distribution of devices such as Bird Scaring Lines for fishing vessels for domestic and foreign fleets that visit Cape Town harbour. BirdLife International is actively lobbying regional fisheries management organisations to improve the data collection and reporting on how vessels are implementing the relevant conservation measures required of longline fishing vessels in the various oceans. It is also supporting efforts to train various fleets in use of best-practice seabird bycatch mitigation measures. The Prince Edward Islands are listed as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, as a Special Nature Reserve under the Environment Conservation Act (No 73 of 1989) and the Prince Edward Islands Management Plan 1996. In addition, the species is protected under the Sea Birds and Seals Protection Act, 1973 (Act No. 46 of 1973), The Marine Living Resources Act (Act No. 18 of 1998): Policy on the Management of Seals, Seabirds and Shorebirds: 2007 and the National Plan of Action (NPOA) for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries 2008.
Proposed
Ongoing measures by BirdLife South Africa and BirdLife International to improve relationships with pelagic longline fishing operations and reduce incidental mortality of seabirds should be supported and extended to distant water fishing nations operating in the Southern Ocean. The South African Government should promote international best-practice for reducing seabird mortalities through forums such as the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, including through acceding to best-practice agreements. Regional and national observer programmes and reporting of their data remain of paramount importance in understanding the scale of incidental mortality and potential effectiveness of (and level of compliance with) mitigation measures employed. Support for programmes to census the sub-population of the Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross at Prince Edward Island more regularly (possibly through less intrusive census measures such as aerial photography), and tracking of birds to assess the degree of overlap with various fisheries operations, remain important tools for assessing and addressing the ongoing threats from fishery interactions to seabirds.
Research
* Understanding the extent of overlap between this species and tuna longline fishing effort in the south-western Indian Ocean in particular, is an urgent priority.
* Understanding the at-sea distribution of juvenile and immature birds from Prince Edward Island is a significant gap, and the possibility exists that young birds move further north, into waters where seabird bycatch mitigation measures are not required by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.
* The extent to which trawl fishing on sea-mounts of the south-western Indian Ocean may pose a risk to seabirds should be investigated.
