Dear Audubon Advocate,
In recent years, rising ocean temperatures have made life difficult for nesting Atlantic Puffins in Maine, with only half the normal number of puffin chicks surviving to fledge from their nests in 2021.
Globally, seabird populations have declined by a staggering 70 percent since the 1950s.
This week Audubon members are meeting with key Members of Congress in support of seabirds—and you can add your voice at this critical moment.
Add your voice: Urge your Members of Congress to support the laws and policies that protect seabirds.
Seabirds are in trouble because of both shrinking food supplies and habitat loss.
Magnificent birds, such as Atlantic Puffins and Common Terns, rely on small, schooling fish—known as forage fish—for food. These forage fish, like herring and menhaden, make up the base of the entire ocean food chain, but they are threatened by climate change and overfishing. Declining forage fish populations mean seabirds often can’t find enough to eat.
Additionally, many seabirds rely on estuaries—where rivers meet the ocean—to raise their young, rest during migration, and forage for food. These habitats, which include wetlands and mud flats, are shrinking due to climate change and coastal development.
Together, we can speak up to ensure that our decision-makers support the laws and policies that protect seabirds from threats like overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change.
To better protect seabirds, we must update the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, our nation's only federal fisheries law, to ensure there are plenty of forage fish in the ocean for seabirds to eat, that seabirds are protected from getting hooked or entangled in fishing gear, and that our fisheries are climate-ready. Congress must also direct funding to restore and protect our estuaries and buffer coastal communities from climate change.
Tell your Members of Congress that they must act to protect the fish and coastal habitats that seabirds and coastal communities rely on.
