The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) is a legally binding international agreement signed in 2001 and entered into force on 1 February 2004 when South Africa ratified as the fifth Party to the Agreement.
It was created in order to halt the drastic decline of seabird populations in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly of albatrosses and petrels. Albatrosses and petrels are threatened by introduced species on their breeding islands, pollution, and by being taken as bycatch by longline fisheries, as well as by trawl and gillnet fisheries. The Agreement requires that measures be taken by signatory governments to reduce bycatch; protect breeding colonies; and control and remove introduced species from breeding sites, especially on islands.
Currently, ACAP protects all the world's albatross species, seven Southern Hemisphere petrel species and two shearwater species. The ongoing work of the Agreement reflects an increasing international commitment to protect albatrosses and petrels.
Organization
The Executive Secretary of ACAP is Christine Bogle, who is supported by a Science Officer, Wiesława Misiak, and an honorary Information Officer, John Cooper.[1] The Secretariat is located at 119 Macquarie Street, Hobart in the state of Tasmania, Australia.[2][3]
The Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2004. National representatives of the Parties meet regularly. Six Meetings of the Parties have been held. The seventh will be held in Australia during 2022.
Eleven meetings of ACAP's Advisory Committee have been held to date, the last in Florianópolis, Brazil from 13 to 17 May 2019. The Advisory Committee is currently supported by three working groups for Taxonomy, Seabird Bycatch, and Population and Conservation Status.
Meeting agendas, final reports and submitted documents and information papers may be downloaded from the Agreement's website at www.acap.aq.
Due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ACAP Parties have decided to postpone the next meeting of the Advisory Committee (AC12) and of its Working Groups (SBWG10 and PaCSWG6) to 2021, to be held in Ecuador.
The Agreement's activities are funded from a modest budget stemming mainly from assessed contributions by the Parties. As well as supporting the Secretariat and annual meetings, funds are used to support conservation activities, including the Small Grants and Secondment Programmes.
Provisions
ACAP helps countries to implement species action plans, control the expansion of non-native predators, introduce measures reducing bycatch of seabirds, and support research in the sphere of the effective conservation of petrels and albatrosses. To this end it has published ACAP Species Assessments, booklets, mitigation factsheets, and a number of ACAP Conservation Guidelines, including for biosecurity; eradication of introduced mammals; translocation; and census and survey methods.
One of the Agreement's main activities is to provide expert advice on seabird bycatch mitigation to fisheries managers, both in domestic and high seas fisheries.
In May 2019 the ACAP Advisory Committee declared that a conservation crisis continues to be faced by its 31 listed species, with thousands of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters dying every year as a result of fisheries operations. To increase awareness of this crisis ACAP has inaugurated a World Albatross Day, to be held annually from 2020 on 19 June, the date the Agreement was signed in 2001.
Species covered by the Agreement
The following 31 species of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters are listed by the Agreement.
Canada, Namibia and the United States of America regularly send observer delegations to ACAP meetings, but have not as yet acceded to the Agreement.[4]Japan and Mexico have sent delegations to meetings in some years. Chinese Taipei has attended as a member economy of the Asia Pacific Economic Forum. Any Range State or regional economic integration organisation may become a Party to the Agreement by accession. The term ‘Range State’ refers to a State with jurisdiction over any part of the range of albatrosses or petrels, or a State whose flag vessels are outside its national jurisdictional limits and either take or have the potential to take albatrosses and petrels.
Both international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) may apply to attend ACAP meetings as observers.
The black-browed albatross, also known as the black-browed mollymawk, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae; it is the most widespread and common member of its family.
The Chatham albatross, also known as the Chatham mollymawk or Chatham Island mollymawk, is a medium-sized black-and-white albatross which breeds only on The Pyramid, a large rock stack in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand (Aotearoa). It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the shy albatross Thalassarche cauta. It is the smallest of the shy albatross group.
Salvin's albatross or Salvin's mollymawk, is a large seabird that breeds mainly on the Bounty Islands of New Zealand, with scant amounts on islands across the Southern Ocean. A medium-sized mollymawk, it was long considered to be a subspecies of the shy albatross.
The sooty albatross is a species of marine bird belonging to the albatross family Diomedeidae. It is a medium-sized albatross that sports a sooty-brown or sooty-black color. It can be found in the southern Atlantic Ocean, the southern Indian Ocean, and the Southern Ocean. This bird scavenges for squid, fish, and carrion. Like other albatrosses, these birds mate for life and return to the same breeding spots every season. A single pair will mate every other year on a variety of islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean and the southern Indian Ocean islands. This bird is an endangered species and conservation efforts are taking place.
The shy albatross, also known as shy mollymawk, is a medium-sized albatross that breeds on three remote islands off the coast of Tasmania, Australia, in the southern Indian Ocean. Its lifespan is about 60 years, and it has been seen as far afield as South Africa and the Pacific coast of the United States. As of June 2020, the species is listed as "Endangered" in Australia; there are thought to be 15,000 pairs of shy albatross left. It is Australia's only endemic albatross.
The white-capped albatross is a mollymawk that breeds on the islands off of New Zealand. Not all experts agree that this form should be recognized as a separate species from the shy albatross, Thalassarche cauta. It is a medium-sized black, slate gray, and white albatross and is the largest of the mollymawks.
Buller's albatross or Buller's mollymawk, is a small mollymawk in the albatross family.
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes. They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains show they once occurred there and occasional vagrants are found. Albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and species of the genus Diomedea have the longest wingspans of any extant birds, reaching up to 3.7 m (12 ft). The albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but disagreement exists over the number of species.
The Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra is a tundra ecoregion that includes several subantarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean.
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