The majority of Canada’s Northern Fulmars breed in 11 colonies distributed across the eastern Canadian Arctic. Those breeding in the High Arctic are a distinct subspecies (F. g. glacialis); one for which a substantial fraction nest in Canada. An additional small fraction of the population (<0.01%) is distributed among breeding sites in British Columbia, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Northern Fulmars are present off the west coast of Canada throughout the entire year, with peak numbers generally between June and November (Kenyon et al. 2009). Trend data are sparse, both because of the remote nature of the Arctic colonies and because Northern Fulmars are difficult to census due to variable colony attendance. However, there is some evidence of a long-term decline relative to the 1970s. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
Where their range overlaps with fisheries, Northern Fulmars make heavy use of scavenged fish offal; changes in the availability fisheries discards could potentially impact populations (Mallory et al. 2012). In the waters surrounding Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic Canada, the vessel-attracted Northern Fulmars are at risk of incidental capture in gillnets, especially when fisheries are operating close to breeding colonies in summer (Hedd et al. 2015), and are highly susceptible to mortality from longline fisheries (Mallory 2006, Kenyon et al. 2009). Recent modeling exercises demonstrate that incidental take from fisheries can negatively impact Arctic Northern Fulmar populations, even at current levels (Anderson et al. 2018). Because they feed at the surface, Northern Fulmars are also susceptible to mortality from oil pollution, as well as to the potential negative impacts of plastic ingestion. In the North Atlantic, the prevalence of ingested plastics in Northern Fulmars is second only to Great Shearwaters (Provencher et al. 2014).
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
