A new study tracking migratory seabirds on the high seas highlights threats to New Zealand’s seabird conservation efforts. 

Located in areas beyond national jurisdiction, the high seas are fair game for the fishing industry, which can make protecting vulnerable species such as New Zealand’s endangered seabirds, extremely difficult. A recent study published in international journal Science Advances utilizes GPS tracking data to determine the impacts of fishing vessels on the flight patterns of threatened seabirds from Portugal to the subantarctic islands. 

The high seas cover half the surface of the planet and are susceptible to largely unregulated fishing activities that result in the deaths of birds as bycatch. Migratory species, including albatross and petrels, spend a significant portion of their lives out in these waters with minimal legal protection.

In a continuing effort to prevent extinction, New Zealand conservation efforts are focusing on how to protect and rehabilitate seabirds including Antipodean and Royal Albatrosses. However, Paul Scofield, a natural history curator for Canterbury Museum, says in the high seas, conservation efforts by one country are easily nullified by the actions of another due to threats from fishing and pollution.

One, the Chatham Island Mollymawk, spend the majority of their lives outside of New Zealand waters. They travel as far as Peru and Chile, which have very little fisheries regulations,” says Scofield. 

Now, with more data indicating the vulnerability of seabirds on the high seas coming out, the next step will be creating more international agreements. Historically, the high seas have remained a gray area for international agreements due to enforcement difficulties and lack of overall international consensus.

We can spend huge amounts conserving birds in New Zealand, but without similar regulations on the high seas these populations aren’t going to survive…We need international regulations which are binding,” says Scofield. 

This August, the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction will meet for their fourth session to discuss an international legally binding instrument under the United National Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS also called the Law of the Sea treaty will define the rights and responsibilities of nations involving most activities in the ocean.

Implementing an agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity on the high seas could provide threatened species, including seabirds, the chance to bounce back and thrive once again.

Feature Photo: A Northern Royal Albatross. Credit: Bernard Spragg

Source: Stuff.co.nz