Seabird foraging welfare is affected by prey availability, competition with fisheries, ocean temperature changes and pollution, with millions of birds affected globally.
Seabird foraging welfare is fundamentally linked to ocean ecosystem health. When forage fish populations collapse from overfishing or are displaced by warming seas, parent birds must travel further and longer, burning more energy and leaving chicks unattended. Failed breeding seasons cause direct suffering to both starving chicks and physiologically stressed adults. Marine Protected Areas that protect forage fish spawning grounds, fishing moratoriums around seabird colonies during breeding season, and climate action to slow ocean warming all directly improve seabird welfare at scale.