Subject: BBC article on albatrosses in peril (fwd)
Date: Sep 6 10:56:52 2003
From: Devorah A. N. Bennu - nyneve at amnh.org



hello all,

a sobering article about albatross. let's NOT say goodbye forever!

regards,

Devorah A. N. Bennu, PhD
email:nyneve at amnh.org or nyneve at myUW.net
work page http://research.amnh.org/ornithology/personnel/bennu.htm
personal pages http://research.amnh.org/users/nyneve/


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3083962.stm

Albatrosses face growing peril
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent

The plight of several species of albatross has worsened significantly in the
last year, conservationists say.

They say populations of six of the 21 albatross species have shown "a further
alarming decrease".

One, previously thought to be safe, is now believed to be at high risk of
extinction.

The culprits are said to be longline fishing boats, blamed for thousands of
bird deaths annually.

The warning is sounded by BirdLife International, an alliance of conservation
groups working in more than 100 countries.


BirdLife representatives from South Africa, France, Australia, New Zealand,
Argentina, the US and the UK have been meeting at a workshop in Cape Town, to
bring together global tracking data on albatrosses and petrels.

BirdLife says research its experts have analysed shows the mounting peril the
birds face, with all 21 species now thought to face some risk of extinction.

BirdLife's assessment is based on the classification used for the Red List of
threatened species compiled by IUCN-The World Conservation Union.

The five relevant categories are critically endangered (a species facing an
extremely high risk of extinction in the wild); endangered (very high risk);
vulnerable (high risk); near-threatened (close to qualifying as vulnerable); and
least concern (a category including widespread and abundant species).

Threat table

What has excited BirdLife's alarm is the way the threat to six species is
creeping inexorably up the scale:

* Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross, near-threatened in 2000, is now endangered
* black-browed albatross, near-threatened in 2000 and vulnerable last year,
becomes endangered
* black-footed, sooty and Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses, all up from
vulnerable in 2000 to endangered now
* Laysan albatross, of least concern three years ago, is today classed as
vulnerable.

The most threatened species of all, the Amsterdam albatross, already classed
as critically endangered, now faces an additional threat from disease.

Only about 20 pairs breed each year, and chicks are dying more often.

Black-footed albatrosses at the nest (Image: Kathy Cousins)
BirdLife's director, Dr Michael Rands, said: "The number of seabirds killed
by longlines is increasing, as is the number of albatross species in the higher
categories of threat due to their continued use.

"Longline fishing, especially by pirate vessels, is the single greatest
threat to these seabirds."


Longliners are blamed for killing 300,000 seabirds annually, a third of them
albatrosses.

The birds swallow the baited hooks on the fishing lines, which can be 80
miles (130 km) long, and either die of their injuries or simply drown.

BirdLife and other conservationists are working with the fleets to promote
bird-friendly fishing methods.

The British trans-Atlantic oarsman John Ridgway is spending a year sailing
the southern ocean to campaign for action against illegal fishing.

He is due soon in Cape Town, where his expedition will be demonstrating best
practice aboard a longlining boat.

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