IB 14-52: NMFS Reports the Second Take of a Short-Tailed Albatross in the BSAI Hook-and-Line Groundfish Fishery

NMFS confirms the take of a second endangered short-tailed albatross (STAL) in the hook-and-line groundfish fishery of the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI). On September 16, 2014, NMFS reported the verified take of a STAL and the take of a second unidentified albatross in the same haul. US Fish & Wildlife Service seabird experts, Washington Sea Grant, and NMFS interviewed the observer, reviewed all available information of the incident, and concluded that the previously unidentified bird was also a short-tailed albatross. The birds were taken on September 7, 2014 at 58°47” 54’ N and 177°43” 36’ W in NMFS reporting area 521 (see Figure 1). The last three documented STAL takes in Alaska were in August 2010, September 2010, and October 2011.