Researchers at the University of Leeds has suggested that EU ban on throwing unwanted fish overboard from commercial boats could be dangerous for one of the North Sea’s most successful sea birds. New research led by Dr Keith Hamer will assess the extent to which gannets rely on unwanted fish and offal thrown from fishing boats to successfully breed and raise their chicks.
Dr Hamer, from Leeds’ Faculty of Biological Sciences, informed that the North Sea has undergone massive environmental changes over the last twenty years, which has put pressure on nearly all sea bird species. He further said that although discards should be stopped to protect marine biodiversity, research is needed on the impact of a ban, so policy makers can understand the best way to implement it.
Dr Hamer will work with colleagues at the universities of Exeter and Plymouth to fit GPS tracker devices on breeding pairs of gannets from twelve colonies around the UK. The data will be plotted against the location of fishing vessels in the North Sea to calculate how many of the birds are relying on discards to breed successfully. The researchers believe that gannets may have specialized feeding habits, with some individuals relying heavily on discards while others focus on finding sand eels or diving for mackerel and herring.
According to Dr Hamer there is increasing pressure on the EU to ban discards and legislation is likely in the near future. The three-year, £700,000 research project, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), will help inform policy makers of how to ensure new regulations minimize potential impact on the gannets. It could also help the UK government decide where to impose marine protected areas in the North Sea.
