Editing Seabird (section)

=== Conservation ===
The threats faced by seabirds have not gone unnoticed by scientists or the [[conservation movement]]. As early as 1903, U.S. President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] was convinced of the need to declare [[Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge|Pelican Island]] in Florida a [[National Wildlife Refuge]] to protect the bird colonies (including the nesting [[brown pelican]]s),<ref>{{cite web |publisher=USFWS Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge|url=http://www.fws.gov/pelicanisland/history.html|title= History of Pelican Island}}</ref> and in 1909 he protected the Farallon Islands. Today many important seabird colonies are given some measure of protection, from [[Heron Island, Australia|Heron Island]] in Australia to [[Triangle Island]] in British Columbia.<ref name="HeronIsland">{{cite web |url=http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/capricornia-cays/about.html |title=About Capricornia Cays |date=June 7, 2011 |publisher=Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing |access-date=March 30, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="Corday">{{cite news |last=Corday |first=Chris |date=2017 |title=Forbidden Island |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/sh/lBuyhpcqVr/forbidden-island/ |work=CBC |location=Toronto |access-date= March 30, 2021}}</ref>

[[Island restoration]] techniques, pioneered by New Zealand, enable the removal of exotic invaders from increasingly large islands. Feral cats have been removed from [[Ascension Island]], [[Arctic fox]]es from many islands in the [[Aleutian Islands]],<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Williams, J. C. |author2=Byrd G. V. |author3=Konyukhov, N. B. |year=2003|title=Whiskered Auklets ''Aethia pygmaea'', foxes, humans and how to right a wrong|journal=Marine Ornithology |volume=31|pages= 175–180 |url=http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/31_2/31_2_175-180.pdf}}</ref> and rats from [[Campbell Island, New Zealand|Campbell Island]]. The removal of these introduced species has led to increases in numbers of species under pressure and even the return of extirpated ones. After the removal of cats from Ascension Island, seabirds began to nest there again for the first time in over a hundred years.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=BirdLife International |year=2005|url=http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2005/07/ascension.html |title=Stamps celebrate seabird return}}</ref>

Seabird mortality caused by [[Longline bycatch in Hawaii|long-line fisheries]] can be greatly reduced by techniques such as setting long-line bait at night, dying the bait blue, setting the bait underwater, increasing the amount of weight on lines and by using bird scarers,<ref>Food and Agriculture Organisation (1999). [http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/DOCREP/005/W9817E/W9817E00.HTM The incidental catch of seabirds by longline fisheries: worldwide review and technical guidelines for mitigation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629171342/http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=%2FDOCREP%2F005%2FW9817E%2FW9817E00.HTM |date=June 29, 2006 }}. FAO Fisheries Circular No.937. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome</ref> and their deployment is increasingly required by many national fishing fleets.

One of the Millennium Projects in the UK was the [[Scottish Seabird Centre]], near the important bird sanctuaries on [[Bass Rock]], [[Fidra]] and the surrounding islands. The area is home to huge colonies of gannets, [[puffin]]s, skuas and other seabirds. The centre allows visitors to watch live video from the islands as well as learn about the threats the birds face and how we can protect them, and has helped to significantly raise the profile of seabird conservation in the UK. Seabird tourism can provide income for coastal communities as well as raise the profile of seabird conservation, although it needs to be managed to ensure it does not harm the colonies and nesting birds.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yorio |first1=Pablo |last2=Frere |first2=Esteban |last3=Gandini |first3=Patricia |last4=Schiavini |first4=Adrián |title=Tourism and recreation at seabird breeding sites in Patagonia, Argentina: current concerns and future prospects |journal=Bird Conservation International |date=December 2001 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=231–245 |doi=10.1017/S0959270901000314|doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, the [[northern royal albatross]] colony at [[Taiaroa Head]] in New Zealand attracts 40,000 visitors a year.<ref name="Brooke" />

The plight of albatross and large seabirds, as well as other marine creatures, being taken as bycatch by long-line fisheries, has been addressed by a large number of [[non-governmental organization]]s (including [[BirdLife International]], the [[American Bird Conservancy]] and the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]]).<ref name="BirdLifeBycatch">{{cite web |url= https://www.birdlife.org/bycatch |title= Ending Seabird Bycatch |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021 |website= BirdLife International |access-date=April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Wiedenfeld">{{cite web |url=https://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Seabird-Bycatch-Solutions_2016_InternetRequired_LowRes.pdf |title=Seabird Bycatch Solutions for Fishery Sustainability |last=Wiedenfeld |first=D.A. |date=2016 |website= American Bird Conservancy |access-date= April 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Cutlip">{{cite news |last=Cutlip |first=Kimbra |date=August 2, 2017 |title=Mitigating Seabird Bycatch with Global Fishing Watch |url= https://globalfishingwatch.org/research/mitigating-seabird-bycatch-with-global-fishing-watch/ |work=Global Fishing Watch |location= |access-date= April 1, 2021}}</ref> This led to the [[Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels]], a legally binding treaty designed to protect these threatened species, which has been ratified by thirteen countries as of 2021 (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, South Africa, Spain, Uruguay, United Kingdom).<ref>{{cite web|title=Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels Site|url=http://www.acap.aq/|access-date=March 20, 2021|publisher=Australian Antarctic Division}}</ref>