FAME - Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment - is an ambitious strategic transnational co-operation project which will enable the protection of the Atlantic marine environment.The FAME project will be delivered by partners from 5 countries (UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal) who have interest, knowledge and expertise in the marine environment, ranging from seabird tracking & monitoring to mapping, data analysis and engagement with the offshore renewable energy and fisheries sectors.Marine wildlife does not respect country boundaries, and so by working transnationally the partners will be able to safeguard the Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment.

viernes, 20 de julio de 2012

17-july-2012
Dans le cadre des Semaines européennes de la pêche organisées dans toute l’Europe du 8 juin au 31 août 2012, OCEAN2012 et le Collectif Bar Européen ont organisé à l’Aquarium La Rochelle une matinée de sensibilisation autour de la surpêche, avec la participation de l'équipe FAME et la mission internationale de la LPO.

The European Fish Weeks (from 8th june to 31st august) were the opportunity  for OCEAN2012 coalition and CBE to organize an animation morning about overfishing, with the participation of LPO (FAME staff and International department).

Fishshape in La Rochelle (Fr) ( copyright: OCEAN2012)

jueves, 5 de julio de 2012

2012 World Ocean Day : 8th of June

LPO headquarters in Rochefort (France) - A.Bodin/FAME

Discovering Seabirds
During the 4th Days of the Sea, LPO FAME staff, in collaboration with the “Collectif Bar Européen” (European Collective for Seabass), organized an animation day about seabirds for the general public.
Thus the team was pleased to welcome visitors on Saturday, 9th of June, around the "FAME" and "Albatross" exhibitions at the headquarters of the LPO in the ancient Royal Foundries, in Rochefort city. A good opportunity to present two additional panels of the FAME exhibition: "Offshore wind farms and seabirds" and "Fisheries and seabirds".
At the same time, the public could enjoy short movies projections, illustrating the FAME program as well as the web documentary "Responsible Fishermen" directed by Thomas Delorme and Anaëlle Blanchard. Visitors could also learn more about the Amsterdam Albatross and the TAAF (French Southern Territories) by attending Thierry Micol’s talk.
The audience has shown a great interest about seabirds and measures to protect them and conserve marine resources, especially fish stocks, which these birds share with humans.

A la découverte des Oiseaux Marins
A l’occasion des 4èmes Journées de la Mer, l’équipe FAME de la LPO, en collaboration avec le Collectif Bar Européen, a organisé une journée sur les Oiseaux Marins à destination du grand public.
Ainsi, elle a eu le plaisir d’accueillir les visiteurs, le samedi 9 juin 2012, autour des expositions « FAME » et « Albatros » au siège de la LPO, dans les anciennes Fonderies Royales de Rochefort. L’équipe FAME a profité de cette opportunité pour présenter les deux panneaux supplémentaires de l’exposition FAME : « L’éolien et les oiseaux marins » et « La pêche et les oiseaux marins ».
Dans le même temps, les participants ont pu bénéficier d’une diffusion continue de vidéos illustrant le programme FAME ainsi que du webdocumentaire « Pêcheurs Responsables » réalisé par Thomas Delorme et Anaëlle Blanchard. Les visiteurs pouvaient également en apprendre davantage sur l’Albatros d’Amsterdam et les TAAF (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises) en assistant à la conférence de Thierry Micol.
Le public s’est avéré intéressé par le sujet des oiseaux marins et des mesures mises en place pour les protéger, préserver les ressources marines et plus particulièrement les stocks de poissons, que ces oiseaux partagent avec l’homme.

 Interested visitors about seabirds and ficheries issues E.Bugot/FAME

jueves, 28 de junio de 2012

Do auks get lost in the fog?

It’s been almost a month since I last wrote a blog, with lots happening in the mean time. So far this season, we have ten tags back from shags on Colonsay. This may not seem a lot when you consider we’ve been working every dry day for the last month, but it just shows how time consuming the process is. Putting a tag on a bird can take a day but retrieving the tag can take three or more if the partner bird is always incubating when you walk out to the site……I’m pretty sure they don’t have a copy of our diary, but who knows!
The data we’re collecting makes it all worthwhile though, it’s already challenged the perceived wisdom of where our seabirds travel to feed. Last year razorbills off Colonsay were going on short foraging trips (e.g. 21 miles) compared with the same species on Fair Isle which had to travel nearly ten times further (e.g. 194 miles) for food. Kittiwakes breeding on Colonsay also carried out short foraging trips compared with their northern neighbours on Orkney, one of which flew 144 miles - double the maximum distance that kittiwakes were thought to fly for food!
Chris, Mara and Ellie are already working with kittiwakes on chicks on the East coast, whilst those on Colonsay (off the West coast of Scotland) have only just started laying their first eggs of the season. We won’t be tagging kittiwakes until the end of June when their eggs are ready to hatch. Yvan and Juliet on Orkney are currently catching shags whilst Rob and Jenny on Fair Isle already have razorbill and guillemot tracks back and their first auk chicks of the year. The auks on Colonsay are still sat on their eggs, a single large white egg for razorbills, and a rather striking large bright turquoise egg for guillemots. Rob and Jenny were rather amused by some recently obtained auk tracks that coincided with a period of thick fog; the birds appeared to be lost, zig zagging all over the place attempting to locate their colony!

Shag, Jane Smith
Aside from the normal day to day fieldwork on Colonsay, we’ve recently had Jane Smith, our artist in residence visiting. It’s great to see the creativity inspired by a day out on the seabird cliffs. Hopefully we’ll be able to combine the scientific side of the project with an artistic element culminating in an exhibition at the end of the project……keep your eyes peeled! There is never a dull moment here, with the RSPB film unit coming to stay next week too. Hopefully the weather will behave itself as we are planning on starting tagging the auks-keep your fingers crossed for us!

lunes, 2 de abril de 2012

Documentary on Berlangas archipelago and SPEA's FAME work for conservation


Within FAME project, SPEA develops several conservation actions in Berlengas archipelago, including the census, breeding success study, and tracking of Cory´s Shearwater, construction of artificial nests, colony monitoring and individual tracking of Madeiran Storm-petrel in Farilhão Grande, the species Northern most stronghold. A team of NGO Aid Nature, accompanied the SPEA field crew in some of these trips, and the result is an excellent documentary, which aims to raise public awareness of the importance of these islands in the context of  Portuguese marine conservation, and the work SPEA has been undertaking.
Watch the full video on http://vimeo.com/39305531
 
 

 Madeiran Storm-Petrel census and tracking work in Farilhão Grande

viernes, 16 de marzo de 2012

FAME Meeting and Coastal census workshop in Santander. 6th-9th March


Working hard during the FAME Meeting



The great Meeting place at la Maruca, Santander


The FAME Meeting guys


Ivan Ramírez from SPEA and BirdLife during the Coastal census workshop


People listening to Phil Taylor from BirdLife


Pep Arcos from SEO/BirdLife during the Coastal census workshop


Very nice lunch breaks with traditional Cantabrican food

lunes, 6 de febrero de 2012

FAME aux journées de la Migration

FRANCE- Les 4e rencontres annuelles de la mission Migration se sont déroulées du 3 au 5 février 2012 à l'Aiguillon sur Mer en Vendée.
4th Annual Meeting of Migration Group took place from the 3rd to the 5th of February 2012 in Aiguillon sur Mer (Vendée, France)

Parmi les interventions, l'équipe française LPO du programme FAME a pu:
- présenter les premiers résultats des suivis côtiers,
- présenter l'exposition en construction sur les oiseaux marins.

Among the talks, FAME french staff could:
- present the coastal censuses first results
- present the exhibit in development about seabirds

Le radar ornithologique a également pu être présenté à la centaine de participants par la LPO et la société Azimut, qui l'accompagne dans le développement de cet outil. 

Ornithologic radar was also presented to the 100 attended people, by LPO and Azimut, the consulting company that helps the French BirdLife partner in developing this technology.

Retrouvez les interventions de ces journées sur/ read more about the talks :
http://www.migraction.net/index.php?m_id=1164#N954



jueves, 17 de noviembre de 2011

Spain opens the public process to designate 41 marine Special Protection Areas (SPAs), totalling almost 50,000 km2

On 18 October, the Spanish government purposed the creation of 41 marine Special Protection Areas (SPAs). Once designated, this will be the first complete national network of marine SPAs in Europe based on solid and specifically directed research, posing a model for other countries. Previous experiences were restricted to small, coastal sites, or areas in enclosed seas such as the North Sea, but had missed offshore waters in the Atlantic Ocean.
With this very good new we open the FAME blog, a blog that aims to spread the actions related with the FAME project and the marine protection and management actions conducted in the Atlantic area.
Deeping into the Spanish issue, the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM) proposal mirrors the marine Important Bird Areas (IBA) inventory elaborated by SEO/BirdLife via EC funded LIFE Project Marine IBAs in Spain (2004-2009) and complemented via LIFE+ INDEMARES. Only three of the 44 areas have been left aside, as their limits extend beyond Spanish waters and new limits for the SPAs have to be studied. One of such areas is the Strait of Gibraltar, within the Atlantic Area.
FAME project has contributed to the lobby action necessary for this achievement. Moreover, it will largely contribute to gain the necessary knowledge and liaison with the stakeholders for the management of the new SPAs, as well as to the management of the entire Atlantic marine environment.