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Wednesday 4 June 2014

Peterhead fish market on BBC Breakfast

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Gannets spot easy pickings from 11km away

The impact of trawlers and their waste on seabird populations appear to be much larger than previously thought. A study by the University of Exeter highlights that the ‘footprint’ of a trawler is as large as 11km radius. This footprint influences the foraging behaviour of seabirds as they now associate trawlers with easy-pickings.

Using GPS the marine researchers from Exeter discovered that the northern gannet changed their behaviour in the presence of large boats and particularly trawlers.

Scientists at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall and the Coastal & Marine Centre at University College Cork analysed GPS tracking data from 74 gannets from six breeding colonies around Ireland, and combined these with similar GPS tracking data from fishing vessels.

Using these GPS tracks the scientists were able to put a distance on the influence of the trawlers. Incredibly gannets from as far away as 11 km were attracted to the trawlers. Large seabirds such as gannets are known to feed on fish discards from trawlers as they was eating fish that live at depths far below the depths that the birds can dive to.

Dr Thomas Bodey of the University of Exeter, who led the study, said: “Our work suggests each fishing vessel has a substantial footprint, with the behaviour of seabirds affected within a 22km diameter circle surrounding it, much larger than we expected.”

Not only do the gannets travel distances to find the trawlers the birds are also able to determine if the journey is worthwhile. By looking closely at the way that birds and boats interacted the scientists concluded that the birds could tell whether the trawler was actively fishing and could even adjust their behaviour based on what type of fishing gear the trawler was using at the time.

Dr Mark Jessopp of the Coastal & Marine Centre at University College Cork, a co-author of the work, added: “The fact that birds responded differently to boats depending on whether they were fishing or not, and the type of gear they were carrying, indicates just how finely attuned these animals are to the opportunities humans can provide“.

Co-author Professor Stuart Bearhop, also of the University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation, said: “We know that seabirds are facing many impacts within the marine environment, and we have tended to think that interactions with fishing boats were a localised phenomenon. Our work indicates that the scale of impact on these top predator’s behaviour is much broader.”

Gannets are the UK’s largest seabird, foraging up to 500 km from their colonies. They forage almost exclusively during daylight hours, with birds resting on the sea surface at night. They are visual foragers with no external nostrils and relatively small olfactory bulbs.

All fishing boats greater than 15 m in length must carry a GPS transmitter as part of the European Union Vessel Monitoring System.

Full story courtesy of WildLife News

Paper reference: Current Biology: Seabird movement reveals the ecological footprint of fishing vessels

MC, Mike Collier - Mr MCA and Master of Ceremonies amongst other things is now retired - sort of!

Mike Collier has been the port's public face of the MCA for the last 14 years...

Mike Collier - and his clipboard in hand

- not a job likely to garner friends easily as he had the unenviable task of carrying out the never popular but oh-so-necessary dreaded 'DTI' (the nautical equivalent of the MOT) on the local fleet - and many of the rules are written to apply to all vessels so when it comes to things like fireproofing floor and door regulations on boats where even a small fire would necessitate abandoning ship rather than trying to fight the fire boat owners get a tad hot under the collar - many years ago, a previous incumbent of the post made George Lawry, owner of the 55' Sea Eagle remove a wooden ladder from the engine room and replace it with a steel set of steps - given that the engine room deckhead was low enough to have to bend down all the time and that the steps out of the engine room were all of 6 treads seemed excessive to him - George protested loudly - he wanted to know how long did he think that anyone would actually stay alive in an engine room with a fire in it - and that if there was a fire he was damned sure he could ascend a set of very heavy wooden steps even if they were on fire themselves - not so a set of steel steps which would surely be totally impossible to climb! - the DTI surveyor insisted and the steps were fitted - almost the first time they were used George slipped on them and gashed his shin - a year later and his shin still required treatment - even the benign person that George was even he found it difficult not to feel a great loathing towards the DTI and its willingness to apply 'big ship' rules on tiny fishing vessels without any taking into account any practical assessment of risk - so Mike Collier managed for the best part to apply the rules for the overall benefit of Newlyn's mighty fleet of fishing boats without...

Mike Collier talks to BBC Radio Cornwall's Donna Birrell.

apart from the MCA, Mike is a trustee for the local branch of the RNMDSF and Mission - he is heading up the team looking to find a new owner sympathetic with the needs of the port and the Mission building...