Seabird attendance and incidental mortality at shrimp fisheries in Golfo San Jorge, Argentina

Many seabirds are attracted to trawl vessels to make use of fishery waste, and often this attraction results in increased incidental mortality. We assessed seabird attendance and associated incidental mortality at the Argentine red shrimp Pleoticus muelleri trawl fishery in Golfo San Jorge, Argentina. Information on seabird numbers was gathered in the autumn and winter 2006 and spring 2008, while information on seabird incidental captures was obtained for the period 2005-2007. Eighteen seabird species attended vessels, and the 2 most frequent and abundant seabirds (percent occurrence, median no. haul -1) were the kelp gull Larus dominicanus (>94%, 94%,