Management Concern: Moderate    

Adequacy of Information: Low

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• Twenty-two species of seabird breed on the Great Barrier Reef with serious declines in some populations.
• Recently, seabird numbers have declined seriously at the four most important seabird breeding sites in the Great Barrier Reef, with no evidence that the birds have moved to other breeding sites in the Great Barrier Reef.  One suggested cause of the declines is poor breeding success linked to changes in the distribution of pelagic fish, the main food source for many species.  These fish distributions may be changing because of warmer sea temperatures linked to climate change.

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online include:

• Status of Queensland seabirds
  
• Status of seabirds: evidence from State of the Reef Report
  
• Trends in seabird populations at Raine Island
  
• Birds of Michaelmas Cay
  
• Trends in seabird populations in the Swain Reefs
  
• Capricorn Bunker Group shearwaters and noddies
  
• Demographic and Reproductive Impacts on Seabirds

Existing policies and management actions

• Seabirds in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  
• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
  
• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
  
• Coastal Bird Monitoring Strategy for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area [860KB]
  
• Threat Abatement Plan for the Incidental Catch (or by-catch) of Seabirds During Oceanic Longline Fishing Operations
  
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan

Future management requirements

• Biodiversity strategy

Defined research questions

• What are the major threats to declining seabird populations in the far northern and southern Great Barrier Reef?

Related information

• Current Research and Monitoring