Management area and longline
fishery effort overlap of breeding
Black-footed Albatross
A TRACKING STUDY FROM KURE ATOLL, HAWAII
GPS TAG
CHICK TAG
K. David Hyrenbach 1, 2, Michelle M. Hester 1, Robert W. Henry 3, Cynthia Vanderlip 4, Josh Adams 3,
Matthew Saunter 4, Naomi Worcester 4
Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge, Kailua, HI: [email protected]
Hawai‘i Pacific University, Marine Science Program, Waimanalo, HI: [email protected]
3
U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Santa Cruz, CA: [email protected]
4
State of Hawai‘i, Dept. of Land & Natural Resources, Div. of Forestry and Wildlife, Honolulu, HI:
[email protected]
1
2
Hyrenbach et al. 2016. Management area and longline fishery effort overlap of breeding Black-footed Albatross Pg. 2
OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH
We studied the at-sea distribution and longline fishery risk to Black-footed Albatross (BFAL,
Phoebastria nigripes) breeding on Kure Atoll (NW Hawaiian Islands) by tracking their foraging
trips during 2012 and 2013 (18 birds, 197 trips, 1003 bird-days tracked).
Attached GPS tags to
BFAL parents of known
sex and age (9 - 13 yrs)
during the chick rearing
period (February - May).
Calculated the precent
time individual birds
spent at-sea in Economic
Exclusive Zones (EEZs),
existing and proposed
U.S. Marine National
Monuments, and RFMOs.
Analyzed BFAL overlap
with monthly longline
fishing effort during the
chick-rearing period
(February - May) of 10
years (2003 - 2012),
from publicly-available
WCPFC records.
Figure 1. Foraging trips
by chick-rearing BFAL
tagged at Kure Atoll (star):
8 birds in 2012 and 10
birds in 2013. Tracks
color-coded by sex: dark
(female) and light (male).
Hyrenbach et al. 2016. Management area and longline fishery effort overlap of breeding Black-footed Albatross Pg. 3
RESULTS SUMMARY
This research fills an important gap in understanding Black-footed Albatross distributions
at-sea, by describing fine-scale foraging of chick-rearing birds at the western-most Hawaiian
colony. The findings show that the Black-footed Albatross from Kure Atoll use the Western
North Pacific and rarely venture into the Eastern side of the basin, where the chick-rearing
birds tracked from Tern Island routinely forage (Hyrenbach et al. 2006; Conners et al. 2015;
Kappes et al. 2015). Together, these results underscore the foraging segregation of birds
from different colonies, with implications for their overlap with longline fisheries and international responsibilities for albatross conservation across the North Pacific.
The Black-footed Albatross tracked from Kure Atoll:
• spent 93% of their time at-sea within the WCPFC management area
• spent 70% of their time in the high-seas, outside of national jurisdictions, and
entered the EEZs of three nations (U.S., Japan, Canada)
• spent 9% of their time in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and
time increased to 25% in the proposed expansion area
• overlapped extensively (98% of their time) with pelagic longline fisheries effort (5x5
hook data from the WCPFC member countries); however, albatross time and fishing
effort within the grid cells were not statistically correlated
• ranged farther in 2013 than in 2012, with males venturing farther north than females
• shifted their at-sea distributions between years and between sexes; however this
variability did not impact the overall time spent in management areas
• had equal parental success (chick development and survival) when we compared the
performance of non-tagged parents (controls) with tagged parents.
Hyrenbach, K.D. et al. 2006. Fisheries Oceanography 15:95-103.
Conners, M.G. et al. 2015. Movement Ecology 3:28.
Kappes, M.A. et al. 2015. Movement Ecology 3:34.
Hyrenbach et al. 2016. Management area and longline fishery effort overlap of breeding Black-footed Albatross Pg. 4
Figure 2. Map of 197 foraging trips from 18 BFAL tagged at Kure Atoll (star) during the chick-rearing
period (February - May) of 2012 and 2013. The tracks are superimposed on the extent of relevant management areas: Regional Fisheries Management Organization areas (RFMOs), national jurisdictions
(EEZs), and U.S. Marine National Monuments. Tracks individually shaded to ease visualization.
RFMOs
Relative Use
% BFAL Time
WCPFC
IATTC
IPHC
92.7 ± 11.2
(100.0 - 66.3)
1.1 ± 3.0
(9.5 - 0.0)
0.9 ± 3.0
(16.6 - 0.0)
Table 1. Percent of time the 18 tagged BFAL spent within North Pacific Regional Fishery Management
Organization areas: Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission (WCPFC), Inter-American Tropical
Tuna Commission (IATTC), and the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). The mean ± S.D.
(range), calculated across individuals, is shown for each management area.
Hyrenbach et al. 2016. Management area and longline fishery effort overlap of breeding Black-footed Albatross Pg. 5
Figure 3. Percent of time the
18 tagged BFAL spent in the
high seas (international waters)
and in the national territorial
waters (200-mile EEZ). The
mean ± S.D. (range), calculated
across individuals, is shown for
each region.
U.S. E.E.Z.
Relative Use
% BFAL Time
Hawai‘i
Alaska
Wake Island
25.2 ± 10.6
(48.5 - 6.2)
0.7 ± 3.0
(12.9 - 0.0)
0.2 ± 0.9
(3.6 - 0.0)
U.S. Marine National Monuments
Relative Use
% BFAL Time
PMNM
PMNM Expansion
(proposed)
PRIMNM
9.7 ± 4.7
(18.4 - 2.1)
25.2 ± 10.6
(48.5 - 6.2)
0.2 ± 0.9
(3.6 - 0.0)
Table 2A and 2B. Percent of time the 18 tagged BFAL spent within management areas in the U.S. EEZ. (A)
Hawaii, Alaska, and Wake Island EEZs; (B) the protected areas of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National
Monument (PMNM), the PMNM proposed expansion area, and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National
Monument (PRIMNM). The mean ± S.D. (range), calculated across individuals, is shown for each area.
Hyrenbach et al. 2016. Management area and longline fishery effort overlap of breeding Black-footed Albatross Pg. 6
Longline Fishing Effort
Black-footed Albatross Time
Figures 4A and 4B. Pelagic longline fishing effort and BFAL time in the overlap study area, presented as
quantile percentages within 5x5 degree grids. A) Longline fishing effort (sum hooks) during the chick-rearing
period (February - May) of ten years (2003 -2012) from WCPFC public records of member countries. WCPFC
merges longline effort (hooks deployed) for all target species into monthly 5x5 degree grids. B) BFAL relative
use (percent total tracked time of adults rearing chicks on Kure Atoll) within 5x5 degree grids (n = 18 birds,
combined for 2012 and 2013).
PARTNERS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Project partners include State of Hawai‘i, Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge, U.S. Geological Survey – Western
Ecological Research Center, and Hawai‘i Pacific University. Funding was provided the by National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation, the Mohamed bin Zaed Species Conservation Fund, and NOAA. Substantial inkind
support was provided by the State of Hawai‘i DLNR-DOFAW, Kure Atoll Conservancy, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and the engineers at e-obs. We thank the crews on NOAA
vessel RV Oscar Sette, the MV Kahana, and all field biologists on Kure: Julia Parish, Hawane Rios, Liat
Porter, Eryn Opie, Matthew Crimi, Ilana Nimz, Joshua Willman, Dakshina Marlier, Parker Shebs, Zackaray
Bigelow, Wayne Haight, Nicole Cody, Erin Pickett. Authority for tagging was provided by USGS Bird Banding
Laboratory (permit 23317). Authorization to conduct this research on the Kure Atoll Seabird Sanctuary was
provided by the land owners, State of Hawai‘i, and Management Co-Trustee (permit PMNM-2008-001).
USGS Disclaimer: This information, preliminary and subject to revision, is being provided to meet the need for timely best science
on the condition that neither the U.S. Geological Survey nor the U.S. Government may be held liable for any damages resulting
from authorized or unauthorized use. The views and conclusions herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as
representing the opinions or policies of the U.S. Government.