Canadian Wildlife Service
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Abstract
Throughout history, marine birds have provided tangible and intangible benefits to human societies. Unregulated exploitation of some species by explorers, mariners, and colonists led to the extinction of the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) and near extinction of others, including the Bermuda petrel (Pterodroma cahow) and the North Pacific albatrosses (Diomedea spp.). Marine birds continue to provide commercial, subsistence, recreational, scientific, and educational values to people of many nations, while playing critical roles in the economies of the world's oceans.
Annual harvest of slender-billed shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) known as "muttonbirds" in Australia, sooty tern (Sterna fuscata) eggs in the Caribbean, murres (Uria spp.) and eiders (Somateria spp.) in Greenland and the Soviet Union, and guano in Peru and Africa represent the principal commercial uses of marine birds and their products. Residents of the Faeroes Islands and thousands of native people in Greenland and arctic Canada and Alaska use various species for subsistence. The annual rituals of bird hunting and egg gathering are deeply ingrained in the sociocultural traditions of these peoples and continue to be important to their social welfare.
Most countries of the world are currently providing at least some protection to their marine bird resources. However, the destruction of bird habitats by man's developments and the contamination of marine environments by industrial pollutants are posing increasingly serious threats to many species. If managed and used in accordance with scientific principles of sustained yield, some of the more abundant species of marine birds can continue to provide long-term social and economic benefits to man.
Increasing numbers of people are expending considerable sums of money to reach marine bird viewing areas off the coasts of North American States and Provinces. Preliminary evidence indicates such nonconsumptive pursuits are contributing significant amounts of money to regional economies and helping businessmen earn a living. An accurate evaluation of both biological and economic impacts resulting from these nonconsumptive activities is urgently needed.
The possibility of establishing an excise tax on designated outdoor recreational equipment appears to hold considerable potential for more adequately funding marine bird programs, as well as those for other nongame wildlife.
Greater citizen involvement in sociopolitical processes will, to a large extent, determine the success of marine bird conservation programs. Sound conservation legislation that insures adequate protection of habitat and provides for enlightened and innovative thrusts in conservation, education, research, management, and law enforcement will help insure the survival of all species of marine birds and, in turn, provide social and economic benefits to people across generations.
In its 17 March 1975 issue, Time magazine reported battalions of observers from all over the country flocking to Salisbury, Massachusetts, armed with telescopes, cameras dwarfed by huge telephoto lenses, sketch pads, and binoculars. There, 1,500 strong the first weekend alone, they took up vigil along the seawall of the Merrimack River. A local businessman circulated among the chilly bird-watchers with free coffee and hot chocolate, while handing out a pamphlet advertising his restaurant.