The short-tailed albatross is a large sea bird with long narrow wings adapted for flying just above the surface of the water. It occurs across the North Pacific Ocean as far south as the northwest Hawaiian Islands and as far north as the central Bering Sea. Currently, the only known short-tailed albatross breeding colonies are on two remote Japanese islands in the western Pacific Ocean: Torishima and Minami-kojima Island.
At the beginning of the century, widespread harvest of this species from breeding colonies in Japan reduced the worldwide population from millions of birds to less than 50 individuals. Today there are fewer than 600 breeding short-tailed albatrosses, and about 1,200 birds total (including immature and juvenile birds).
"This is one of the most endangered birds in the world," said Dave Allen, the Services regional director for Alaska. "To put its decline in perspective, for every short-tailed albatross alive today, there used to be more than 4,000."
Breeding habitat and future survival of the species are threatened by volcanic activity and monsoon rains on Torishima and by disputed ownership of Minami-kojima Island. Mortalities caused by longline fishing, plastics pollution, and oil spills may also affect conservation of this species.
The Endangered Species Act prohibits killing, harming, harassing or possessing a listed species or modifying or destroying habitat so that it impairs the survival of a listed species. The Act also requires Service biologists to develop and implement a recovery program for threatened and endangered species.
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The Service does not expect the listing to have a large impact on any Native organizations or individuals or on activities on private lands.
The Service has worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the longline fishing industry to address the problem of albatrosses and other seabirds snaring themselves on baited fishing hooks during longline fishing operations. Among other steps, the Service has been providing longline fishing vessels in Alaska with seabird deterrent devices designed to keep birds away from the hooks.
In its decision to list the short-tailed albatross in the United States, the Service determined that it is not prudent to designate critical habitat for the species.
For more information on this rule, contact Greg Balogh at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, 605 West 4th Avenue, Room G-62, Anchorage, Alaska 99501 or by telephone at 1-800-272-4174 or 1-907-271-2888.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 520 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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