Oregon bycatch: Short-tailed Albatross

Sad news from a recent announcement by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council as reported by the American Bird Conservancy.

An endangered Short-tailed Albatross was killed as bycatch off Oregon this past spring. Once numbering in the millions, they were hunted to near extinction in the early 20th century. Their numbers have built to nearly 3000 today.

"Bycatch" is the name for all the fish, dolphins, birds and other animals that were not the intended fishing target. These "accidental catch" can be hauled up in nets or caught on baited hooks, as this albatross apparently was.

I was previously unaware that any longline fishing was done off Oregon. In fact, I thought a ruling in October 2002 prohibited longline fishing off Washington, Oregon, and California. So this must be an experimental longlining hake fishery.

Of course, the albatross that was killed was probably an all-dark juvenile, not the white, gold, and black bird in the photo accompanying the ABC article. There are only 17 reports of Short-tailed Albatross in Oregon, though they are increasing in recent years and are probably offshore late fall through spring in small numbers when weather prevents many smaller vessels from going offshore to look.

I appreciated the remark by Robert Alverson, Executive Director of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association in Seattle, Washington. He said, "Albatross bycatch benefits no one, and our fleets are very interested in minimizing any negative impact on seabirds."

Indeed, US fisheries have made significant progress in the past few years reducing seabird bycatch, especially in longline fisheries off Hawaii and Alaska.

For more information: Report on the Bycatch of Marine Mammals and Seabirds by the US West Coast Groundfish Fleet.

Algae bloom kills Pacific NW seabirds

A bloom of Akashiwo sanguinea on the ocean shores of Washington and northern Oregon has killed hundreds of seabirds, according to a report by Lynne Terry of The Oregonian newspaper. The algae turns into a sticky froth in the surf. This soap-like foam destroys the waterproofing in the seabirds feathers.

The article says that in September it was mostly scoters that were killed off Washington State in a rare outbreak. Experts were surprised when another outbreak struck again in October, this time hitting primarily murres, loons, and grebes.

Western Grebe

Many birds have appeared on the beach, resting, but otherwise appearing healthy. Those less healthy are being treated by rehabilitators, which were temporarily overwhelmed. The Wildlife Center of the North Coast, in Astoria, Oregon, arranged to fly about 300 birds to another facility in California.

On Monday, October 26, 2009, volunteer rescue worker Mike Patterson of Astoria, Oregon, helped pack up the following birds for transport:
161 Common Murre
73 Western Grebe
33 Red-throated Loon
17 Common Loon
2 Pacific Loon

Update: Here is another article with photos and a video clip from The Daily Astorian.