CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The fishery for Patagonian scallop (Zygochlamys patagonica) in Argentinean waters began over 25 years ago. This fishery - utilizing bottom otter trawl gear - was the first scallop fishery in the South-West Atlantic certified under the Marine Stewardship Council scheme, firstly in 2006, and recertified in 2012 and 2017. However, there is still no data available on its relationship with non-target species such as seabirds that attend these operations. This is the first study investigating the direct interactions between seabirds and this fishery. Records were obtained by observers tasked onboard two freezer trawlers (representing 50% of the whole fleet) from early October 2019 to mid-March 2020. Procellariiformes dominated the attending seabird assemblages; being the Black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris), White-chinned petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis), Great shearwater (Ardenna gravis), Atlantic-yellow nosed albatross (T. chlororhynchos), Southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), Royal albatrosses (Diomedea sandfordi/epomophora) and the Cape petrel (Daption capense) the most frequent and abundant species. Seabird abundance decreased with increasing swell height and increased with cloud coverage. Seabird interactions with the vessel or fishing gear were recorded in 4.3% of the surveys (i.e. number of hauls), resulting in an estimated rate of 0.11 seabird contacts with fishing gear per haul, the bulk of which corresponded to Black-browed albatrosses and Great shearwaters. A single individual was bycaught during the study period, meaning a mortality rate of < 0.001 birds per haul. The interactions increased during towing operations compared to shooting and haulback. The information presented in this study contribute to the implementation of actions in the Argentine National Plan of Action - Seabirds as well as monitoring and conservation actions that Argentina undertakes in compliance with international instruments. Moreover, this information is relevant to the current fishery certification process.

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