Seabirds are long-lived, slow-reproducing birds that travel vast distances to feed - climate-driven changes in prey distribution are creating a mismatch between breeding seasons and food availability.
Seabird welfare at the population scale is increasingly threatened by climate-driven phenological mismatch. Individual birds and their chicks experience starvation when food availability declines during the critical chick-rearing period. Adult seabirds attempting to provision starving chicks face increased foraging distances and effort. Colony monitoring programs that track chick survival, adult body condition and diet provide early warning of welfare deterioration. Forage fish protection through reduced industrial fishing quotas is one of the most direct welfare interventions available, reducing competition between commercial fishing and breeding seabirds.