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Sexual size dimorphism, spatial segregation and sex-biased bycatch of southern and northern royal albatrosses in pelagic longline fisheries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2016

Sebastián Jiménez ,
Andrés Domingo ,
Alejandro Brazeiro ,
Omar Defeo ,
Martin Abreu ,
Rodrigo Forselledo  and
Richard A. Phillips
Sebastián Jiménez*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Recursos Pelágicos, Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos, Constituyente 1497, 11200 Montevideo, Uruguay British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK Proyecto Albatros y Petreles - Uruguay, Centro de Investigación y Conservación Marina (CICMAR), Uruguay
Andrés Domingo
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Recursos Pelágicos, Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos, Constituyente 1497, 11200 Montevideo, Uruguay
Alejandro Brazeiro
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
Omar Defeo
Affiliation:
UNDECIMAR, Departamento de Ecología & Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
Martin Abreu
Affiliation:
Proyecto Albatros y Petreles - Uruguay, Centro de Investigación y Conservación Marina (CICMAR), Uruguay
Rodrigo Forselledo
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Recursos Pelágicos, Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos, Constituyente 1497, 11200 Montevideo, Uruguay
Richard A. Phillips
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
*
*jimenezpsebastian@gmail.com
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Abstract

Bycatch in longline fisheries is a major contributor to the global decline of albatrosses. Sexual segregation at sea often leads to unequal overlap with different fisheries, resulting in sex-biased bycatch, exacerbating the impact on a population level. In great albatrosses (Diomedea spp.), males (the larger sex) tend to spend more time at higher latitudes than females, attributed to competitive exclusion or differences in flight performance mediated by the pronounced sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Consequently, larger numbers of females are bycaught in pelagic longline fisheries in subtropical and temperate areas. Although this has been shown for Diomedea exulans, it has not been confirmed for all great albatross species. Here we examined the degree of SSD and developed discriminant functions to determine species and sex in D. epomophora and D. sanfordi; species that are often killed in several fisheries in the Southern Hemisphere. Based on a large sample of albatrosses bycaught off Uruguay, both species showed substantial SSD. Discriminant functions assigned species and sex to otherwise indeterminate individuals with 90–100% accuracy. Based on all birds identified (n=128), bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery was female-biased, indicating sexual segregation at sea. The discriminant functions presented enable species and sex to be identified, providing critical data for future bycatch assessments.

Keywords

discriminant analysisseabirdssexual segregationsouth-west Atlantic
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , April 2017 , pp. 147 - 154
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Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2016 

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