The Parties to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) have added the three North Pacific species of albatross, Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus, Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis and Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes to Annex 1 of the Agreement.

ACAP is a legally binding international treaty which requires signatory governments to take action to reduce albatross and petrel bycatch in fisheries, and to protect breeding colonies. Annex 1, which lists the species covered by the agreement, previously included only albatross species occurring in the southern hemisphere, together with seven southern hemisphere petrel species.

Government agencies in the USA and Japan already work with their North Pacific longline fishing fleets to ensure that seabird bycatch mitigation measures are adopted. US and Japanese delegates to the third session of the meeting of parties to ACAP in Bergen, Norway, gave a presentation demonstrating how close the objectives of those currently working to conserve these three albatrosses were to those of ACAP, and how mutual benefits would derive from the addition of these species to Annex 1. The decision to add the three species to Annex 1 was unanimous.

 Links: