Incidental and intentional catch threatens Galápagos waved albatross

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2006.07.010
• Publication Date: 2006-09-27T07:29:55Z
• Authors: Jill A. Awkerman; Kathryn P. Huyvaert; Jeffrey Mangel; Joanna Alfaro Shi...; David J. Anderson
• Keywords: Albatross; Bycatch; Extinction (optical mineralogy)

As large, long-lived seabirds with delayed and slow reproduction, albatrosses have low intrinsic mortality rates and are especially vulnerable to extinction from extrinsic sources of mortality such as fishery bycatch. Leg-band recovery information for waved albatrosses revealed mortality from both incidental catch and intentional catch for human consumption. Annual adult survival in 1999–2005, estimated from capture-mark-recapture data, was lower than historical estimates. This recent increase in adult mortality probably contributed to recent and dramatic shrinkage of the breeding population; periodic matrix models confirm that population growth rate is most sensitive to changes in adult survival. Banding data and recovery information also suggest that capture by fisheries is male-biased, which should reduce fecundity in this species with obligate bi-parental care. This new documentation of bycatch, harvesting, and associated demographic consequences provides reason for serious concern about the persistence of the single breeding population of the waved albatross.