Avian flu – the wake-up call to drive urgent Government action on seabird recovery

(c) Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Species Policy Officer, Imogen Taylor and Marine Policy Officer, Ruby Temple-Long explain that there is still time to fight for our seabird’s future, but only if governments intervene and help build resilience.

An unprecedented outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has worryingly hit the UK’s internationally important seabirds. If we are to turn the tide and drive their recovery, we must act now. Here we explain the urgent actions needed to give our seabirds a fighting chance.

Home to around 8 million seabirds from 25 species, the British Isles are some of the most special places in the world for these masters of the sky and sea. Yet, many of their populations are suffering from catastrophic declines. Between 1986 and 2019 the number of breeding seabirds fell by almost a quarter across the UK, and by nearly half in Scotland, the UK’s stronghold.  

The UK's globally significant seabird populations are on the frontline of the nature and climate emergency and they are feeling the pressure. Marine birds failed to meet Good Environmental Status (GES) by the 2020 deadline and were worryingly classified as moving away from target. Now, they are being hit by an unprecedented outbreak of avian influenza. 

UK Government support is lacking 

We’ve been working hard on our reserves, through our research, with our supporters, collaborators and decision makers to relieve pressure on our spectacular seabirds. But the level of change that’s needed has to be supported by governments.  

Following years of delay to a myriad of government policies designed to conserve seabirds, we’re calling for urgent and effective government intervention which is more important than ever in light of the HPAI outbreak.  

We recently called out the Westminster government for not taking proportionate action on the HPAI situation in wild birds and unfortunately while last week’s ‘commitments’ have included some positive steps (e.g. focussed research and recording in England), the Government’s plans are lacking in terms of the need for coordinated national response planning and stakeholder engagement (especially when compared to the Task Force that has been established in Scotland and regular meetings happening in Wales).  

The response was also a missed opportunity to commit to urgently delivering actions to build resilience in seabird populations, like closing UK waters to industrial sandeel fishing or tackling invasive non-native mammals on seabird islands.

It’s time to implement solutions 

With the true scale and future impacts of HPAI unknown, we must focus on the solutions that can be put in place to monitor the virus while urgently implementing actions to boost seabird survival in their greatest time of need. Specifically, we need:  

1. Effective coordination and monitoring of avian influenza 

There are many factors at play with the spread of HPAI, so government-leadership should centre around ensuring we have the right coordination and monitoring in place such as: 

• Fully and publicly acknowledge that HPAI is a major threat to wildlife. 
• Develop a National Response Plan for HPAI in Wild Birds in each of the four countries of the UK, and build cross-UK coordination and information sharing. 
• Via these Plans, develop effective monitoring, surveillance, research and reporting systems to build real-time understanding of the virus and its progress. 
• Build-in clear and effective guidance and arrangements for carcass collection, virus testing and analysis on samples of birds not showing symptoms, to inform understanding of the virus and the targeting of mitigation measures. 
• Ensure people know not to touch sick or dead birds and to control pets when around wild birds. 
• To put in place measures to minimise unnecessary disturbance to wild birds during localised HPAI outbreaks, including control of public access, hunting, boating etc

2. Implementing shovel-ready solutions to build resilience 

We need to build resilience in vulnerable populations through species recovery and conservation measures. For seabirds, the most urgent priorities are currently:

• To close UK waters to the industrial sandeel fishery 
• To introduce effective measures to eliminate seabird deaths from bycatch in fishing gear 
• A rolling programme of island restoration and biosecurity legacy 
• Shifting to a Nature Positive approach to offshore wind that frontloads action for nature 

The impact of this unprecedented outbreak

Avian influenza has been around for a long time, typically infecting waterfowl and spreading through the movement of poultry, poultry products and associated vehicles and equipment, and through the movements and migrations of wild bird populations. But the current outbreak has been unprecedented in the species it has affected with its presence in our seabird colonies, who were already struggling, which is an incredibly serious cause for concern. During the breeding season, many of these birds nest in close and messy quarters, making it easy for the virus to spread and in some cases rip through entire colonies.

The virus has been spreading through seabird colonies up and down the country, killing tens of thousands of adults and chicks during the breeding season. At Coquet Island, avian Influenza has wiped out almost all chicks from 1,964 Sandwich tern nests, while roseate terns (the only breeding site in the UK) have lost around 55% of their adult population. Nearby, the Farne Islands have lost thousands of birds to the disease including guillemots, kittiwakes and terns. At Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, the largest gannet colony in the world, the impacts are severe but not yet fully quantified. Nest failure for the Bass gannets has been estimated at around 90%, and the colony population is apparently down by perhaps one third.

(c) Ibrahim Alfarwi - the same site two weeks apart shows the catastrophic impact of bird flu on a Sandwich tern colony at Coquet Island

HPAI has currently been confirmed in 16 of the UK’s 25 seabird species. Some of those that have been hit the hardest include northern gannets, great skua and Sandwich terns of which we hold 55.6%, 60% and 9.6% of the world’s population. So, what happens to seabirds in the UK matters to the global health of these populations. With HPAI causing impacts at a population level for some species and possibly even posing an extinction risk to others, like great skuas, it’s a really worrying time. 

Mounting pressure 

Human pressures have continually impacted seabirds, reducing their ability to survive in today’s world, let alone thrive. These pressures have persisted, while new ones such as marine development add another layer of threat.  

Even more concerning are the impacts that weren’t predicted such as the wrecks, which saw dead and sick seabirds washing up along our coasts last September and now, the largest and longest outbreak of HPAI on record.  

To improve the fortunes of our seabirds in the face of harder to buffer impacts like disease outbreaks and a changing climate, we must ease the pressure elsewhere. 

Seabird pressures infographic

We don’t have to lose these special species

As top predators, seabirds have a vital role in showing us what’s happening in the natural world. They act as indicators, telling the story of the health of the seas, islands and coasts and right now, they are the canaries in the coalmine. 

This truly is the seabird’s cry. Like the need for transformative action to avoid irreversible damage to humans and nature in the face of the global nature and climate emergency, bold action is also needed if we want the sights and sounds of our impressive seabird cities to remain a feature of our coasts and islands. Luckily, the story for our seabirds, and for us, isn’t set in stone – to change it, we must act now. 

You can stay up to date with the RSPB’s response to the avian influenza outbreak here and hear more about the actions needed to save our seabirds from our Head of Marine Policy here.  

You can support our marine work by donating here.