Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:01:28.274Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rockhopper penguins and other marine life threatened by driftnet fisheries at Tristan da Cunha

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2009

Peter G. Ryan  and
John Cooper
Peter G. Ryan
Affiliation:
Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7700, South Africa.
John Cooper
Affiliation:
Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7700, South Africa.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The oriental driftnet fleet, which is responsible for the large-scale mortality of non-target species in the Pacific Ocean, has extended its range to include the South Atlantic Ocean. Relatively little is known about the areas of operation and impacts of driftnetting in the South Atlantic as yet, but it is emerging that driftnetting is equally devastating to the fauna of this ocean. This paper reviews the impact of the driftnet fishery on non-target species in the central South Atlantic Ocean. Several lines of evidence suggest that fishing effort is focused on Tristan da Cunha, apparently resulting in considerable mortality of rockhopper penguins Eudyptes chrysocome and other marine organisms. Britain should take steps to curb this destructive fishing technique in Tristan waters.

Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , April 1991 , pp. 76 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1991

References

Anon. 1989a. SA calls for action on tuna gill nets. S. Afr. Ship. News & Fish. Industry Rev. 44 (6), 55.Google Scholar
Anon. 1989b. US salmon packers seek to curb tuna gill netters. S. Afr. Ship. News & Fish. Industry Rev. 44 (1), 19.Google Scholar
Brothers, N.P. In press. Albatross mortality and associated bait loss in the Japanese longline fishery in the Southern Ocean. Biol. Conserv.Google Scholar
Coffey, B.T. and Grace, R.V. 1990. A Preliminary Assessment of the Impact of Driftnet Fishing on Oceanic Organisms: Tasman Sea, South Pacific, January 1990. B. T. Coffey and Associates Ltd, Hamilton, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Cooper, J., Brown, C.R., Gales, R.P., Hindell, M.A., Klages, N.T.W., Moors, P.J., Pemberton, D., Ridoux, V., Thompson, K.R. and van Heezik, Y.M. 1990. Diets and dietary segregation of crested penguins (Eudyptes). In: Penguin Biology (eds David, L. S. and Darby, J. T.), pp. 131–156. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida.Google Scholar
Croxall, J.P. 1990. Impact of incidental mortality on Antarctic marine vertebrates. Antarct. Sci. 2, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO. 1990. Report of the expert consultation on large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing. Rome, 2–6 April 1990. FAO Fish. Rpt, 434, 1–78.Google Scholar
Gjernes, T., McKinnell, S., Yatsu, A., Hayase, S., Ito, J., Nagao, K., Hatanaka, H., Ogi, H., Dahlberg, M., Jones, L., Wetherall, J. and Gould, P. 1990. Final Report of Squid and Bycatch Observations in the Japanese Driftnet Fishery for Neon Flying Squid (Ommastrephes bartrami). June-December, 1989 Observer Program. Joint report: Fisheries agency of Japan, Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, United States National Marine Fisheries Services, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 17+90 pp.Google Scholar
King, W.B. 1984. Incidental mortality of seabirds in gillnets in the North Pacific. In: Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds (eds Croxall, J. P., Evans, P. G. H. and Schreiber, R. W.), pp. 709–715. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Rice, N. 1990. Mass death in vast spider webs of the sea. S. Afr. Commercial Fisherman, 2 (3), 18–19.Google Scholar