title: Seabird movement reveals the ecological footprint of fishing vessels.
abstract: Exploitation of the seas is currently unsustainable, with increasing demand for marine resources placing intense pressure on the Earth's largest ecosystem [1]. The scale of anthropogenic effects varies from local to entire ocean basins [1-3]. For example, discards of commercial capture fisheries can have both positive and negative impacts on scavengers at the population and community-level [2-6], although this is driven by individual foraging behaviour [3,7]. Currently, we have little understanding of the scale at which individual animals initiate such behaviours. We use the known interaction between fisheries and a wide-ranging seabird, the Northern gannet Morus bassanus[3], to investigate how fishing vessels affect individual birds' behaviours in near real-time. We document the footprint of fishing vessels' (≥15 m length) influence on foraging decisions (≤11 km), and a potential underlying behavioural mechanism, by revealing how birds respond differently to vessels depending on gear type and activity. Such influences have important implications for fisheries, including the proposed discard ban [8]), and wider marine management.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology & Conservation, Penryn Campus, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK. Electronic address: T.W.Bodey@exeter.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Bodey
authors.affiliation: Coastal & Marine Research Centre, University College Cork, Irish Naval Base, Haulbowline, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jessopp
authors.affiliation: Environmental and Sustainability Institute, Penryn Campus, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Votier
authors.affiliation: Marine Institute, Rinville, Oranmore, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: Hans D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Gerritsen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology & Conservation, Penryn Campus, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK.
authors.forename: Ian R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Cleasby
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrative & Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Keith C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Hamer
authors.affiliation: School of Natural & Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, GL50 4HZ, UK.
authors.forename: Samantha C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrative & Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK; Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Ewan D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology & Conservation, Penryn Campus, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK. Electronic address: S.Bearhop@exeter.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bearhop
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004739:England; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005398:Fisheries; D007494:Ireland; D008954:Models, Biological; D009068:Movement; D012606:Scotland