Joint OSPAR/HELCOM/ICES Working Group on Seabirds (JWGBIRD; outputs from 2023 meeting)

This report closes the triennium work plan of JWGBIRD for 2021–2023 and summarizes the working group outputs during that period, relying on two previously published ICES Scientific Reports from the JWGBIRD meetings in 2021 and 2022. The present summary report is organized such as each section covers one of the terms of reference (or tasks) of the 2021–2023 work plan. References to the previous JWGBIRD reports are indicated at the beginning of each section to point the reader to more detailed descriptions of the work JWGBIRD accomplished during the past years. In general, and despite the difficulties post-pandemic of adapting the work to hybrid meeting formats, JWGBIRD achieved most of the tasks in the work plan, including critically reviewing and updating the seabird assessments for OSPAR QSR2023 and for HELCOM HOLAS 3, as well as developing methods to ensure better, less uncertain assessments for a number of seabird indicators. Additionally, JWGBIRD contributed importantly to the shaping of the OSPAR Regional Action Plan for Marine Birds (RAP-Bird) in the Northeast Atlantic (2024–2030). JWGBIRD also supported several ICES services, including discussing the needs from WGBYC regarding bycatch data, helping in the elaboration of a dedicated workshop on bycatch in the NEAFC regulatory areas, and continuing the development of the European Seabird at Sea (ESAS) database. Other tasks summed up here and in the two earlier reports include a review of the consequences of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu (HPAI) on seabird populations in Europe, an overview of the risks posed by litters for seabird species, a discussion on the interest of stranded seabird data collection for assessments, and the impact of extreme weather events and oil spills on bird populations. JWGBIRD work plan for 2024–2026 will prolong these tasks, focusing on the effects of interactions between seabirds and anthropogenic activities (e.g. fisheries, litter and pollution, offshore energy production), ecological challenges (e.g. habitat loss, climate change, extreme events), and on informing other expert groups and policy-makers in both HELCOM, ICES, and OSPAR through a final year scientific report in 2026 and, intersessionally, contributing to ad-hoc advice and peer-reviewed publications.

This report summarizes JWGBIRD outputs from:

• 1/3: 08–11 November 2021, online meeting (41 participants)
• 2/3: 28 November–02 December 2022, Oostende, Belgium (56 participants)
• 3/3: 25–29 September 2023, Gdańsk, Poland (39 participants)