Hi David, Mike, Greg et al,
I am not really wishing to comment too much on the wader banding debate as
such, I would like to bring this issue back to something that Mike Carter
raised in his initial response to David Clark's email- and that is that I am
convinced that it is possible and quite likely that fishing line entaglement
does cause oystercatchers to lose their legs.
I suspect that in some ways, oystercatchers are more resilient to limb loss
than other birds, for as Mike points out, bivalves closing on their legs is
an occupational hazard for oystercatchers. But I know for a fact that
fishing line can amputate the lower legs of oystercatchers as a friend of
mine, Bill King, has photographic evidence of a Sooty Oystercatcher at
Rickett's Point near where I live in Melbourne's Bayside. He is apparently
soon to publish his shots in an article for ABC online.
The shots of the bird were taken six months apart and in the first you can
see that the leg is terribly swollen around the knee (ankle) joint. Looking
closely, you can see that the cause of the swelling is the fishing line that
is wrapped around that leg. Six months later and almost certainly the same
bird, and the leg is gone, cut off at exactly the same point.
Around the same time there was another Sooty Oystercatcher with a leg
missing (one bird had the left leg missing, the other the right). I can't
vouch for that individual but it wouldn't suprise me if the cause wasn't the
same.
I know that one individual oystercatcher is only anecdotal but it
definintely shows it does happen. Also, I have been collecting a rather sad
and macabre dossier of photos of birds that have been injured by
recreational fishing debris as part of a possible story for Australian
Birdlife. It is not just the hooks and discarded fishing nets that do damage
to marine and coastal birds. The range of distressing shots that I have seen
of many species found strangled, amputated or infected by fishing line that
they have been entangled in is staggering. It is across many species of
almost any family of birds that use our inshore waters. One of the problems
with publishing is that the images are unrelenting gruesome and upsetting.
Unfortunately this is an issue that is only going to get worse as more and
more recreational fishers take to our waters. I am assuming the source of
most inshore entanglements is recreational and not professional fishing- I
shudder to think what happens in pelagic waters. (Well I guess we do know,
with long line fishing at least.) I say unfortunate not just for the birds
involved but also because it will end up pitting thosewho care about birds
against yet another recreational group who will see us as a bunch of fun
stoppers. I know that the lot of people trying to protect beach nesting
birds from dogs off lead is one that has this year alone, led to verbal
abuse and intimidation of volunteers, vandalism of conservation property and
assault. And duck season is yet to begin...
Another sad fact in the case of this Sooty Oystercatcher is that Rickett's
Point is a marine sanctuary where fishing is not allowed. There are about
six Sooties that move up and down this section of Port Phillip, only a
fraction of which is protected. But even if they stayed within the tiny
confines of Rickett's there is nothing to stop discarded line from washing
ashore.
A very sad and depressing state of affairs all round I would suggest.
You may resume your wader banding arguments.
Sean Dooley
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