A Bird's Eye View of Discard Reforms: Bird-Borne Cameras Reveal Seabird/Fishery Interactions

S C Votier; A Bicknell; S L Cox; Kylie L Scales; S C Patrick

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057376

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A Bird's Eye View of Discard Reforms: Bird-Borne Cameras Reveal Seabird/Fishery Interactions

Journal article

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A Bird's Eye View of Discard Reforms: Bird-Borne Cameras Reveal Seabird/Fishery Interactions

S C Votier, A Bicknell, S L Cox, Kylie L Scales and S C Patrick

PLoS One, Vol.8(3), e57376

2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057376

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Abstract

Commercial capture fisheries produce huge quantities of offal, as well as undersized and unwanted catch in the form of discards. Declines in global catches and legislation to ban discarding will significantly reduce discards, but this subsidy supports a large scavenger community. Understanding the potential impact of declining discards for scavengers should feature in an eco-system based approach to fisheries management, but requires greater knowledge of scavenger/fishery interactions. Here we use bird-borne cameras, in tandem with GPS loggers, to provide a unique view of seabird/fishery interactions. 20,643 digital images (one min-1) from ten bird-borne cameras deployed on central place northern gannets Morus bassanus revealed that all birds photographed fishing vessels. These were large (>15 m) boats, with no small-scale vessels. Virtually all vessels were trawlers, and gannets were almost always accompanied by other scavenging birds. All individuals exhibited an Area-Restricted Search (ARS) during foraging, but only 42% of ARS were associated with fishing vessels, indicating much 'natural' foraging. The proportion of ARS behaviours associated with fishing boats were higher for males (81%) than females (30%), although the reasons for this are currently unclear. Our study illustrates that fisheries form a very important component of the prey-landscape for foraging gannets and that a discard ban, such as that proposed under reforms of the EU Common Fisheries Policy, may have a significant impact on gannet behaviour, particularly males. However, a continued reliance on 'natural' foraging suggests the ability to switch away from scavenging, but only if there is sufficient food to meet their needs in the absence of a discard subsidy. © 2013 Votier et al.

Details

Title: A Bird's Eye View of Discard Reforms: Bird-Borne Cameras Reveal Seabird/Fishery Interactions
Authors: S C Votier (Author) - University of Exeter, United Kingdom
A Bicknell (Author) - Plymouth University, United Kingdom
S L Cox (Author) - Plymouth University, United Kingdom
Kylie L Scales (Author) - Plymouth Marine Laboratory, United Kingdom
S C Patrick (Author) - Plymouth University, United Kingdom
Publication details: PLoS One, Vol.8(3), e57376; 6
Publisher: Public Library of Science
Date published: 2013
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057376
ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
Copyright note: Copyright © 2013 Votier et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450455002621
Output Type: Journal article
Research Statement: false