Rat eradication will help protect Abrolhos Islands seabirds

Nesting seabirds on the Abrolhos Islands off Geraldton, have been given greater protection with the successful eradication of feral black rats from Rat Island.

The program was undertaken by the Department of Conservation and Land Management and the Fisheries Department.

Environment Minister Bob Pearce and Fisheries Minister Gordon Hill say the program's success has raised hopes that once the island's feral cats are eliminated, seabirds will start breeding on Rat Island again.

"This island once supported the largest number of nesting seabirds in the Abrolhos Islands and indeed, the largest number found anywhere in the eastern Indian Ocean," Mr Pearce said.

"It contained enormous colonies of wedge-tailed shearwaters, common noddies and sooty terns, as well as many other species.

"Rats were first spotted on the island in 1840, hence its name, and these have been responsible - along with feral cats - for the reduction of sea birds on the island."

Mr Hill said cats had probably been introduced to reduce rat numbers when guano miners exploited the island's deposits around the turn of the century.

"As well as killing native wildlife, the rats have also been a nuisance to people living on Rat Island during the rock lobster season," he said.

Staff from CALM and the Fisheries Department began rat baiting in December 1991.

Mr Pearce said similar baiting techniques had been used successfully by CALM on several other islands off the Western Australian coast.

These included the Bedout in the Pilbara, four islands in the Lacepede group near Broome, part of Barrow Island and five islands near Barrow.

"On Barrow Island, West Australian Petroleum (WAPET) and CALM worked together to eradicate feral rats so that endangered golden bandicoots could be protected," Mr Pearce said.

Mr Hill said fishermen were now helping to restore the ecological balance of the island, by capturing feral cats.

"Seabirds can now return and for the first time, rock lobster fishers will not have to put up with invading rats," he said.