Evaluation of Performance of Previous Plan

The 2001 Recovery Plan nominated four recovery criteria against which to judge the success of the albatross and giant petrel recovery plan. None of those four criteria can be judged to have been fully met (Table 4).

Table 4: Assessment of recovery criteria in 2001 Recovery Plan.

Recovery Criteria	Status
Incidental bycatch during longline fishing operations is consistent with the criteria specified in the longline fishing threat abatement plan for all albatross and giant petrel species within the AFZ.	Not achieved
All human induced threats to albatrosses and giant petrels have been minimised or eliminated.	Not achieved
No breeding population within areas under Australian jurisdiction declines due to human activities.	Unknown
All albatross and giant petrel breeding populations within areas under Australian jurisdiction that have declined, exhibit a sustained increase in population size.	Not achieved

The poor outcome of these recovery criteria is due to one or a combination of the following:

the criteria operate on a time scale beyond the life of the recovery plan;
the criteria were not practical, e.g. many human induced threats are outside Australian control; and
longline fishing is no longer the sole major threat facing albatrosses and giant petrels. Land-based threats, as well as other forms of fishing, such as trawl fishing operations, also threaten these species.

The 2001 Recovery Plan identified six specific objectives and a total of forty associated recovery actions. As part of the performance evaluation, each recovery action was assessed according to the performance indicator and scored between 0-3 using the following criteria:

0 No progress / cannot be assessed

1 Insufficient action to meet criteria

2 Action underway – most elements of action met or it is anticipated they will be

3 Criteria met – further action may or may not be required

The individual assessments for each of the forty recovery actions are contained in the background document. The results for the specific objectives are summarised in Table 5.

Table 5: Evaluation of achievement against specific objectives of 2001 Recovery Plan.

Quantify and reduce the threats to the survival of albatrosses and giant petrels within areas under Australian jurisdiction	(11 Actions)45% achieved	Good achievement where recovery actions are aligned with Threat Abatement Plan (i.e. longlining) and for investigation into the foraging ranges of albatrosses and giant petrels has been comprehensive. Lack of actions relating to all other threats, particularly other fishing methods, is responsible for poor achievement. Note that priority was intentionally given to longlining as it posed the greatest immediate threat.
Quantify and reduce the threats to the reproductive success of albatrosses and giant petrels breeding within areas under Australian jurisdiction	(13 Actions)72% achieved	Most of the actions relating to land based threats have been partially or completely implemented.Threats at sea require quantification.
Quantify and reduce the threats to the foraging habitat of albatrosses and giant petrels within areas under Australian jurisdiction	(3 Actions)11% achieved	Lower priority in the case of marine pollution. Dietary requirements not directly accounted for in AFMA's fisheries management regime although they indirectly form part of the ecosystem-based management framework being implemented.
a) Maintain existing population monitoring programs for albatrosses and giant petrels breeding on Macquarie Island, Albatross Island, Pedra Branca and the Mewstone; andb) Develop population monitoring programs for other representative breeding populations under Australian jurisdiction	(8 Actions)63% achieved	All monitoring and demographic programs that were in existence at the start of the 2001 recovery plan have been maintained. Few new reliable data have been obtained for other breeding populations for which the population level and trend were unknown when the 2001 Recovery Plan was adopted.
Educate fishers and promote public awareness of the threats to albatrosses and giant petrels	(1 Action)33% achieved	Good for visitation to breeding colonies and longline fishing. Lacking for intentional shooting, and trawl and troll fishers.
Achieve substantial progress towards global conservation of albatrosses and giant petrels in international conservation and fishing fora	(2 Actions)100% achieved	Australia has had significant, substantial and influential involvement in international fora.
Assess and revise the albatross and giant petrel recovery plan as necessary	(2 Actions)33% achieved	Annual meetings to assess and revise the recovery plan did not occur although in-house informal assessment was carried out.

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