Mediterranean seabird conservation: what can we do?

Abstract

SUMMARY: Human activities in the Mediterranean determine, to a large extent, the availability of food and breeding sites for seabirds, the two most important ecological requirements for breeding seabirds. Food availability is highly dependent on fisheries activities and the availability of breeding sites is largely related with tourism pressure. Conservation plans necessarily need to incorporate the fact that Mediterranean seabirds and human activities are forced partners. However, solutions are complex because fishing policies are not commonly designed by environmental agencies and also because seabirds are organized in metapopulations which do not coincide with administrative borders. In this monographic volume, several authors describe the main characteristics of the Mediterranean seabird community, identify its conservation problems and suggest a number of technical solutions.Key words: conservation, seabirds, Mediterranean, management, fisheries, tourism. RESUMEN: LA CONSERVACIÓN DE LAS AVES MARINAS MEDITERRÁNEAS: QUÉ PODEMOS HACER? -Las actividades humanasdeterminan en el Mediterráneo, en gran medida, la disponibilidad de alimento y lugares para la reproducción, los dos principales requerimientos ecológicos de las aves marinas. La obtención de alimento se ve muy influenciada por las actividades pesqueras y la disponibilidad de sitios de cría depende de la presión turística. Los planes de conservación han de contemplar necesariamente esta realidad con la que las aves marinas están obligadas a coexistir. Las soluciones son complejas porque las competencias en materia pesquera no suelen estar en manos de las agencias ambientales y porque las aves marinas se constituyen en unidades metapoblacionales, transgrediendo fronteras administrativas. En el presente volumen diversos autores ponen de relevancia las particularidades de la comunidad de aves marinas del mediterráneo, identificando los principales problemas para su persistencia en el tiempo y sugiriendo algunas medidas paliativas.

Seabird-trawling interactions: factors affecting species-specific to regional community utilisation of fisheries waste

“…The present study is an effort to describe the complex processes that drive seabird‐fisheries direct interactions. This is certainly an important topic and which represents an important challenge for the management of endangered seabird populations (Furness, 2003; Mínguez et al. , 2003).…”

“…However, the western Mediterranean Sea is a highly exploited ecosystem where current levels of both fishing activities and environmental forcing are probably leading to important changes in the whole ecosystem (Tudela, 2004). In fact, it is already well known that trawling activity influences seabird food provisioning, by either providing food supplies (discarding annually approximately 1050 t only in Mallorca) and/or limiting natural prey availability (i.e., small pelagic fish), which in turn affects their life history (Mínguez et al. , 2003; Oro, 2003; Arcos et al.…”

Small pelagic fish, trawling discards and breeding performance of the critically endangered Balearic shearwater: improving conservation diagnosis

“…Any conservation measure that sets out to enhance breeding success seems difficult to achieve, owing to the practical constraints involved in altering the levels of food availability for shearwaters. In the Mediterranean, fishery activity and the protection of breeding habitats have been identified as key factors for seabird conservation, but management strategies are difficult to apply because of socio-economic constraints (Mínguez et al 2003). In the case of the Balearic shearwater, conservation strategies have mainly focused on protecting breeding sites (e.g.…”

Ingestão de plástico pelo atobá-mascarado, Sula dactylatra Lesson, 1831, na Reserva Biológica do Atol das Rocas, RN, Brasil

“…As atividades e políticas de preservação voltadas para as aves marinhas esbarram na complexidade do modo de vida desses animais, tendo em vista que uma única espécie pode utilizar um amplo espectro de habitats e que sua área de ocorrência ultrapassa os limites das fronteiras políticas (MÍNGUEZ et al, 2003). Complicando ainda mais esse fato, temos medidas políticas dispersas, inúmeras complicações administrativas e medidas de manejo adotadas sem cooperação entre os governos.…”

“…As maiores limitações de recursos para aves marinhas dependem do controle da pesca industrial e da disponibilidade de áreas costeiras e insulares não alteradas (FURNESS, 2003;MÍNGUEZ et al, 2003) e destaca-se como um fator limitante para a conservação destas áreas o grande aporte de lixo despejado nos mares (BLIGHT; BURGER, 1997;DERRAIK, 2002). Esse problema foi ignorado por muitos anos, e apenas recentemente, vem sendo abordado por alguns autores (por exemplo, STEFATOS et al, 1999 Wilson (1984).…”