Atlantic puffins are facing increasing welfare challenges as climate change warms the North Sea, shifting prey fish distributions and reducing the sandeel availability that chick survival depends on.
Puffin welfare is directly affected by the intersection of climate change and fisheries management. Reduction in sandeel availability within range of breeding colonies forces adult birds to expend more energy per foraging trip, reducing chick feeding rates and increasing starvation risk. The welfare impacts are most acute in southerly UK colonies where water warming is greatest.