By Veronica Iriarte - On Wednesday we celebraed our fifth World Albatross Day! The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) announced “Marine Protected Areas – Safeguarding our Oceans” as the theme for this year’s World Albatross Day. The Falklands Islands are home for 72% of the black-browed albatross world’s breeding population and our waters are an important foraging area for several species, including the locally Endangered wandering albatross and the globally Endangered grey-headed albatross from South Georgia. These two species are , as they comprise more than 10% of the world population and are currently declining more than 3% per year due to fisheries interactions elsewhere.
June 19 should be a day not only for admiring and respecting these amazing seabirds, but also to reflect on our own daily choices. Although our black-browed albatross population is large and stable, of the 40 species of albatrosses and large petrels, 21 are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered, and 11 are Near Threatened. Albatrosses and petrels spend a significant amount of time migrating and foraging in waters distant from their breeding grounds, which makes them vulnerable to interactions with fishing operations.
Since 2001 the Falkland Islands Government has been working towards seabird by catch mitigation in fishing operations. The first Falkland Islands National Plan of Action (.
