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ESR 34:373-396 (2017)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00869

REVIEW
Tangled and drowned: a global review of penguin bycatch in fisheries

Rory Crawford1,*, Ursula Ellenberg2,3,4, Esteban Frere1,5, Christina Hagen6, Karen Baird1,7, Paul Brewin8, Sarah Crofts9, James Glass10, Thomas Mattern3,4, Joost Pompert11, Katherine Ross9, Jessica Kemper12, Katrin Ludynia13,14, Richard B. Sherley15, Antje Steinfurth16, Cristián G. Suazo17,18, Pablo Yorio19,20, Leandro Tamini21, Jeffrey C. Mangel22,23, Leandro Bugoni24, Gustavo Jiménez Uzcátegui25, Alejandro Simeone26, Guillermo Luna-Jorquera27, Patricia Gandini5, Eric J. Woehler28, Klemens Pütz29, Peter Dann30, Andre Chiaradia30, Cleo Small

1BirdLife International Marine Programme, c/o RSPB, The Lodge, Potton Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, UK Addresses for other authors are given in the Supplement at www.int-res.com/articles/suppl/n034p373_supp.pdf
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: Penguins are the most threatened group of seabirds after albatrosses. Although penguins are regularly captured in fishing gear, the threat to penguins as a group has not yet been assessed. We reviewed both published and grey literature to identify the fishing gear types that penguins are most frequently recorded in, the most impacted species and, for these susceptible species, the relative importance of bycatch compared to other threats. While quantitative estimates of overall bycatch levels are difficult to obtain, this review highlights that, of the world’s 18 species of penguins, 14 have been recorded as bycatch in fishing gear and that gillnets, and to a lesser extent trawls, are the gear types that pose the greatest threats to penguins. Bycatch is currently of greatest concern for yellow-eyed Megadyptes antipodes (Endangered), Humboldt Spheniscus humboldti (Vulnerable) and Magellanic Spheniscus magellanicus penguins (Near Threatened). Penguins face many threats; reducing bycatch mortality in fishing gear will greatly enhance the resilience of penguin populations to threats from habitat loss and climate change that are more difficult to address in the short term. Additional data are required to quantify the true extent of penguin bycatch, particularly for the most susceptible species. In the meantime, it is crucially important to manage the fisheries operating within known penguin foraging areas to reduce the risks to this already threatened group of seabirds.


KEY WORDS: Fishery · Gillnet · Seabird · Trawl · Conservation · Direct mortality


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Cite this article as: Crawford R, Ellenberg U, Frere E, Hagen C and others (2017) Tangled and drowned: a global review of penguin bycatch in fisheries. Endang Species Res 34:373-396. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00869

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