Leia Navarro Herrero (University of Barcelona)
Abstract.
Seabirds and fisheries frequently interact because they share the same resources and fishing grounds, which poses a significant global threat to seabird populations through overfishing and bycatch. Despite this risk, the impact of fisheries on seabirds remains understudied in West African waters, even though the region has rich seabird biodiversity and intensive fishing activity. In addition, there is poor control of fishing activity making this region vulnerable to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing). These activities are particularly challenging but essential to assess, as they rarely follow bycatch mitigation strategies and lead to unreliable estimates of fish catches and bycatch rates. To address the potential impact of fisheries on seabird populations in West African waters, we investigated interactions between nine seabird species and fishing vessels. We used bird-borne GPS data and radar detectors (capable of scanning seabird surroundings to identify vessels) combined with an Automatic Identification System tracking data from the vessels. Our results reveal that seabirds frequently interacted with both legal and illegal fisheries, especially trawling activities, across various Exclusive Economic Zones under different flags. These findings underscore the need for enhanced governmental coordination and surveillance to improve seabird conservation in West African waters, while also demonstrating the effectiveness of integrating different technologies to tackle key conservation challenges.