Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Presenter: Tori Burt
Title: Exploring and conserving the sensory world of Leach’s Storm-Petrels
Summary: When seabirds are exposed to sensory pollutants, they can distract from the birds’ natural behaviours, increasing risk. In my master’s research, I explored the influence of two sensory pollutants (artificial light and scent) on the behaviour of the Leach’s Storm-Petrel, a small nocturnal seabird often found stranded in coastal communities and on vessels due to artificial light at night. The stranding of Leach’s Storm-Petrels at a seafood processing plant adjacent to the species’ largest breeding colony provided a unique opportunity to assess the role of visual and olfactory cues, both separately and in combination, on coastal strandings in Newfoundland and Labrador. Tune in to explore the sensory world of these cryptic, charismatic seabirds!
Presenter: Bobby Blackmore
Title: Assessing bycatch and mitigation strategies for seabirds in Newfoundland fisheries
Summary: Seabirds are one of the most at-risk avian groups worldwide, and incidental catch in fishing practices is one of the top threats for seabirds globally. Seabirds that forage on fish through surface feeding, pursuit-diving, or plunge-diving are particularly vulnerable to bycatch. Bycatch mitigation strategies and technologies remain an under-explored yet vital component of global seabird conservation, but owing to the episodic nature of bycatch, existing efforts involving gear additions are highly varied. Two avenues of bycatch mitigation that we explored are: 1) altering the time of day and duration for which gear is deployed and modifying fishing practices based on the activity patterns of target fish and seabirds, and 2) deploying a predator-shaped “scary bird” kite near the gear during setting, hauling, and soaking to deter birds from interacting with the gear. We experimentally tested these mitigation practices for shallow-set gillnets used in the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) bait fishery, as well as deep-set gillnets and longlines targeting commercial Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. We compared catch, bycatch, and seabird activity among control and experimental trials of both mitigation methods in 2024 and 2025, with scarybird trials currently ongoing through 2026. Altering the timing and soak duration of shallow-set gillnets in the herring fishery has shown promising results, and as such, we recommend that fishers continue standard practices by hauling their nets early every morning, minimizing the time where shallow-set nets are filled with prey during daytime hours, thereby limiting seabird bycatch risk. Federal regulations for bycatch reporting and observer data collection are not meeting standards Canada-wide, with discrepancies in regulations set by DFO in the Pacific vs. the Atlantic and across fisheries (commercial vs. artisanal vs. bait fisheries), so our research can provide important insight into the best practices that inform bycatch risk reduction in areas without federal oversight.