Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L01285:reg:13:p50
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L01285
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 13 (pt 50/98)
Character Range: 362134–365201

is estimated at 23.6 years (Bird et al. 2020).
Black-browed Albatross take most prey by surface-seizing and surface-plunging and pursuit diving, and are frequent fishing vessel followers. Some individuals are capable of remaining submerged for over 50 seconds in pursuit of prey (Guilford et al. 2022). Individual birds reach a maximum depth of 19 m while foraging (Guilford et al. 2022). All individuals dived to more than one metre, indicating that diving is a common mode of capturing prey (Harper 1987, Guilford et al. 2022). Black-browed Albatross diet is composed mostly of fish, cephalopods, jellyfish and scavenged species, with small amounts of other species (Cherel et al. 2002, Xavier et al. 2003a, 2003b, McInnes et al. 2017). For example, at the Kerguelen Islands Black-browed Albatross forage on cephalopods, fish and penguins in roughly equal proportions (Cherel et al. 2002). The diet of fish species includes species discarded from fishing operations, with the presence of fish hooks and fish bait species indicating a strong association with fisheries in southern Chile, Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas and Kerguelen Islands (Arata & Xavier 2003, McInnes et al. 2017b).
Foraging areas of Black-browed Albatross are extensive with birds accessing Antarctic and sub-Antarctic shelf waters proximate to their breeding islands during the breeding season, but ranging widely when not breeding and favouring the warmer coastal or shelf waters of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America (Weimerskirch et al. 1985, 1986). Black-browed Albatross in Australia's jurisdiction forage along the southern coastline from Perth to Brisbane (Blakers et al. 1984, Marchant & Higgins 1990, Reid et al. 2002). Sub-adults remain in Australian waters all year round with immature birds forming the preponderance (99%) of Black-browed Albatross seen in south-eastern Australian waters between October and January (Reid et al. 2002).

Species distribution in Australia

Black-browed Albatross nests on Heard Island, McDonald Islands and Macquarie Island (including Bishop and Clerk Islets) (Figure 4). Tracking studies indicate that dispersal is circumpolar from subtropical waters to the Antarctic ice-edge and includes southern and sub-Antarctic Australia, and the AAT (BirdLife International 2004, Terauds et al. 2005, ACAP 2012d), with birds breeding on Macquarie Island generally foraging in the adjacent exclusive economic zone (Terauds et al. 2006a).

The size of the breeding populations of Black-browed Albatross on Heard Island, McDonald Islands and Macquarie Island before human visitation is unknown. Harvesting of eggs and/or birds may have occurred during the 19th Century while the islands were occupied by sealers (Cumpston 1968, Townrow 1988, Downes 2002). Black-browed Albatross is subject to ongoing long-term monitoring on Macquarie Island with 47 (range 42-49) breeding pairs estimated in 2019/20, with long-term breeding success averaging 45% (DPIPWE 2021a). The population breeding on Heard Island has not been systematically surveyed