Key threats

There are numerous threats to albatrosses and giant petrels both on terrestrial breeding sites and at-sea in their foraging habitat. These are listed below and summarised in the background paper available at (www.antarctica.gov.au and www.environment.gov.au). Land based threats are specific to Australian populations whereas threats faced at sea may affect individuals from any population that spends some part of their life foraging in waters under Australian jurisdiction.

Table 3: Summary of threats to albatrosses and giant-petrels

The most pervasive threat to albatross and giant petrel survival is the accidental mortality and injury arising from interactions with human fishing activities. These interactions have been implicated in the dramatic population declines witnessed around the globe and are the focus of conservation efforts. While additional threats to albatrosses and giant petrels, whether on land or in the marine environment, are generally less devastating, they compound the problem of fishing related mortality.

The magnitude and temporal and spatial extent of fishing related mortality in the southern hemisphere to date has been such that it potentially renders other conservation actions ineffective. For example, for some albatross colonies subject to serious unmanageable threats to breeding habitat (e.g. from volcanic activity), it has been suggested that translocation of breeding colonies (i.e. encouraging birds to breed in a new, more favourable location) might be appropriate. Notwithstanding the inherent difficulties of such an action (e.g. the very high degree of philopatry exhibited by albatrosses, the limited success and resource-intensive nature of translocations), fishing mortality has been so pervasive in the southern hemisphere, at least, that it would potentially continue to cause population declines in a translocated population.

Climate change is emerging as an important factor in understanding the threats and recovery of albatross and giant petrel populations. Through modifications to marine and terrestrial environments, climate change is likely to cause fundamental changes to aspects of the breeding biology and foraging ecology of albatross and giant petrel species. Changes in abundance and distribution of fish species leads to continual changes in fishing methods and spatial and temporal distribution of fishing effort – which has direct implications for albatross and giant petrel conservation. Climate change may also influence the scale and severity of other threats, in turn directly influencing survival and breeding parameters.