Fishing equipment, marine debris and hydrocarbon soiling associated with seabirds at Bird Island, South Georgia, 2006/07

This report describes and quantifies occurrences of fishing gear, marine debris and oil associated with seabirds at Bird Island, South Georgia from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007. It is the fourteenth such annual report. As in previous years, more items of marine debris and fishing gear (mostly longline fishing gear) were found in association with wandering albatrosses than with any other species. The total number of items encountered (n =170) increased after a recent short-term decline with large numbers of fishing hooks and line (n=70) recovered from wandering albatross chick regurgitations reflecting discard of used baited hooks at sea. Entanglements continue to be observed with hooks being typical of those used in the Patagonian Toothfish industry.