Fishing boats operating close to where penguins raise their young may pose more problems for the birds than experts understood before now, as published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
What's happening?
Researchers tracked endangered African penguins in South Africa and compared their movements with fishing boat activity from 2016 through 2019. The birds and boats frequented the same waters, with the worst year showing about 20% of penguin activity happening in zones where fishing occurred.
The team built a new measurement called "overlap intensity" that counts how many individual birds are affected when boats fish in areas where penguins search for prey.
In 2016, when young anchovy numbers fell to unusually low levels at around 328,000 tonnes compared to a typical 688,000 tonnes, both penguins and fishing crews clustered in narrow zones.
"Predator-fishery overlap, particularly overlap intensity, could be an important factor to consider when assessing the effect of competition with fisheries in central place foragers, but future work should seek to quantify the fish caught in the areas where overlap occurs, both by the fishery and foraging predators," the researchers noted.
Why is fishing near penguin colonies concerning?
African penguin numbers have fallen by about 78% over the past 30 years, and competition with industrial boats plays a role in this decline.
The birds need small fish like anchovies and sardines to feed their chicks, but fishing boats target these species in shallow coastal areas.
When fish populations shrink, both penguins and fishing vessels pursue fewer fish groups, pushing them to compete more intensely. If boats catch fish before penguins can reach them, parent birds may struggle to bring enough food to their young. This causes chick starvation and reproductive collapse at whole nesting sites.
The situation worsens during lean years. When available fish decline, identical fishing effort takes a far bigger share of available prey, leaving even less for wildlife.
What's being done about fishing near penguin colonies?
South Africa has implemented fishing restrictions within 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of certain penguin colonies, rotating closures across different breeding sites. These zones have increased young bird survival rates and improved their body condition when fishing stops.
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Definitely 👍 The new research suggests that future protected areas could be designed by focusing on zones where many individual penguins feed, rather than just looking at the total area covered. This would allow managers to protect the waters where birds hunt while allowing fishing to continue in places where fewer birds forage.
If you want to help ocean animals, reduce your consumption of overfished species and choose seafood certified by responsible fishing programs. You can contact policymakers to advocate for science-based fishing limits that protect both ocean animals and fishing communities.
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