a b s t r a c tCompetition with fisheries and incidental capture in fishing gear are the major current threats for seabirds at sea. Fishing is a traditional activity in Portugal and is mainly composed of a great number of small vessels. Given the lack of knowledge on effects of the Portuguese fishing fleet on seabird populations, bycatch was assessed in mainland coastal waters for 2010-2012. Interviews and on-board data were divided into 5 strata, according to fishing gear: Bottom trawling, Bottom longline, Purse seine, Beach seine, Polyvalent (≥12 m) and Polyvalent (<12 m). Polyvalent included Setnets, Traps and Demersal longlines. Overall, 68 birds were recorded to be bycaught. The average catch per unit effort (CPUE) was 0.05 birds per fishing event. Polyvalent (<12 m), Polyvalent (≥12 m) and Purse seiners had the biggest seabird bycatch rates, with 0.5 (CPUE = 0.1), 0.11 (CPUE = 0.05) and 0.2 (CPUE = 0.11) birds per trip, respectively. Within Polyvalent gear, Setnets captured the largest diversity of seabird species (CPUE = 0.06), while Demersal longline had the highest CPUE (0.86). Northern gannet was the most common bycaught species. Although more observation effort is required, our results suggest that substantial numbers of Balearic shearwater might be bycaught annually, mainly in Purse seine and Setnets.

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The Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus is one of the most threatened seabirds in the world. To evaluate the abundance and distribution of Balearic Shearwaters in Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters, during the post-breeding period when migrating birds are outside the Mediterranean Sea, we conducted 5 aerial surveys between 2010 and 2014 (21 survey days covering 62,716 km). Following a line transect method, observers recorded a total of 181 Balearic Shearwaters sightings. Using Distance sampling software, we estimated an overall species abundance (2010-2014) of 10,182, ranging between 2338 in 2010 and 23,221 individuals in 2012. During the 2012 postbreeding period, the Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters were used by up to 96.8% of the latest migratory population assessment. Considering Balearic Shearwater estimates per sampling block, there was a preference for the North and Center sectors of the Portuguese coast (respectively, 7058 and 1366 individuals) where several SPAs were already designated. We computed the annual and overall habitat predictive models for Balearic Shearwaters using a maximum entropy algorithm on MaxEnt software. In all models, the Balearic shearwater distribution was best predicted by mean chlorophyll concentration. Balearic Shearwaters are mostly present in shallow shelf and coastal waters particularly in the widest portions of the continental shelf. These areas are strongly influenced by upwelling, which concurs with the chlorophyll concentration being the most important predicting variable. Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters are one of the most important postbreeding grounds to the Balearic Shearwater.