Prey harvest of the Australasian gannet (Sula serrator) in Tasmania

Abstract

This study investigated the diet of the Australasian gannet (Sula serrator) at Pedra Branca, an island off the south coast of Tasmania. A total of 109 regurgitations representing 394 prey items was collected from the gannets between 1986 and 1991. Pelagic schooling fish, with fork length less than 200 mm, were the most common prey items. Redbait (Emmelichthys nitidus) and jack mackerel (Trachurus declivis) were the dominant prey species, with redbait being the most numerous, contributing 72% by number and 56% by mass. The diet of the Australasian gannet was compared with the fish taken by the commercial purse seine fishery in which jack mackerel was the target species and redbait a bycatch. The mean size of commercially caught fish of both species was greater than that taken by the gannets. We suggest that there is a threshold (in the size of the fish) above which the birds cannot capture and handle the prey, effectively limiting the resource available to them. It appears that the commercial fishery and the gannets, while harvesting the same species, exploit schools of different-size fish. The potential of Australasian gannets as indicators of fish stocks is discussed.