3.11 Pelagic Seabirds
Carolina, but are included below to high- light the need for cooperation and coordi- nation among states and countries to efect change. Te impact that conservation eforts in North Carolina can have on pelagic sea- birds is less direct, especially since most of the species do not breed in the state (except the occasional Sooty Tern). Key breeding areas for pelagic species include the Arctic region, the north Atlantic, the West Indies/ Caribbean, and other portions of the south Atlantic. Still, all eforts to promote activi- ties that aid in research, management, and conservation of pelagic seabird species should be pursued whenever possible in North Carolina. Table 3.33 provides a list of potential part- ners and partnerships for pelagic bird conservation.
Pomarine Jaeger (Patrick Coin, WikiMedia) https://www.fickr.com/photos/pcoin/633585761/ Used under license CC BY-SA 2.5
3.11.3 Knowledge Gaps Tere is strong evidence that seabird bycatch rates vary by fshing feet and by area (Yeh et al. 2013) . In a summary of studies done in the Atlantic Ocean from 1987 to 2006, reported bycatch rates varied from 0.07 birds per thousand hooks in Canadian fsheries in 2001 to 4.7 per thousand hooks for the fsheries of Uruguay in 1993/1994 (Tuck et al. 2011) . A lack of observer data from most member countries constrained the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Subcommittee on Ecosystems estimate of the annual seabird bycatch for the entire ICCAT area (e.g., Atlantic Ocean) (ICCAT 2010a; Yeh et al. 2013) . Te United States is a member of ICCAT and actively participates and supports the protocols and research recommendations developed by the organization. Te ICCAT Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS) reviewed ecological risk assessments of the impact of ICCAT fsheries on sea turtles and seabird bycatch miti- gation measures and recently developed a list of research needs. Te recommendations for research topics include a need to review whether ICCAT mitigation measures refect best practices; to develop indicators that can be used to evaluate the efciency of mitigation
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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