Nigel Brothers

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Nigel Peter Brothers (* 1950 in Tasmania , Australia ) is an Australian scientist , fiction book - author , photographer and environmentalist . He is primarily concerned with the flora and fauna as well as the topography of Tasmania.

background

The Macquarie, look at the northern tip of the research station, where Brothers perennial for the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service was staying
Brothers' long-term research object on several Tasmanian islands: a white-capped albatross
Also searched in vain by Brothers: Pouch wolves

In the Australian state of Tasmania, the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1970 enacted legal regulations for the protection of fauna and flora and for the establishment and management of national parks . On November 1, 1971, the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service was set up initially with 59 employees; the government agency continues to exist in an enlarged form and is currently (as of 2019) part of the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) , roughly translated as the “ Ministry for the Primary Sector , National Parks, Water and Environment ".

Life

In 1973, Brothers joined the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service shortly after it was established . For more than 28 years he worked in the field of nature and landscape protection, most recently as a marine biologist in the Department for Nature Conservation. For the authority, he traveled in a leading position to many of the 334 mostly unpopulated, often hardly documented islands around Tasmania, mapped them and recorded their fauna and flora. When he retired from the ministry in May 2001, he was one of Tasmania's longest serving wildlife officers .

From 1975, Brothers organized their own research trips, some of them lasting several months, on behalf of the authority. From November 1975 to March 1977 he stayed on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island , part of Tasmania , and again from November 1978 for another year. His findings on the fauna and flora there were significantly influenced by the decision of the state of Tasmania to protect Macquarie Island as a nature reserve from 1978 onwards . Occasionally, Brothers' research and exploration trips also took them to regions outside of Tasmania. So he was in 1978 first because of the fishing on the Australian west coast, then on the east coast in the state of Queensland including Fraser Island ; In 1988 he investigated the longline fisheries of Japanese deep-sea fishermen in fishing zones around Australia and in the sub-Antarctic area and in 1995 the Isla Guafo , an island in the Chiloé archipelago in southern Chile .

Over the years, especially in the 1980s, Brothers visited around 280 islands off the Tasmania coast, sometimes only for hours, sometimes with stays of several months. During his visits, he measured, mapped and photographed the often uninhabited islands and recorded the flora and fauna there. In the 1990s, he focused primarily on three uninhabited islands that are still of particular importance as breeding and rearing areas for certain bird species:

  • Albatross Island in northwest Tasmania: An 18-hectare island belonging to the Hunter Island Group, a nature reserve that now belongs to the Albatross Island and Black Pyramid Rock Important Bird Area with a neighboring island ; The island is known for its breeding colony of around 5000 pairs of the white-capped albatross , around 40% of the global population of this species. Between 1980 and 1999, Brothers visited the island annually, sometimes for several months, sometimes several times a year, also as a starting point for further exploratory trips in the bass road ;
  • Pedra Branca in the south of Tasmania: A 2.5 hectare rock island, around 26 kilometers south of the Tasmanian coast and now part of the Southwest National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site . After two visits in 1978 and 1984, Brothers examined the island almost annually between 1986 and 1998, sometimes for several months, sometimes several times a year;
  • Mewstone in the south of Tasmania near Pedra Branca: An approximately 13 hectare island, about 22 kilometers south of the Tasmanian coast and also part of the Southwest National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site . After first visits at the turn of the year 1977/78, 1981 and 1984, Brothers examined the island several times between 1988 and 1998, sometimes for several months.

Since his first visit to the island of Mewstone at the end of 1977, Brothers has been particularly committed to protecting the white-capped albatross. Other areas of research include seals and skinks . In addition, at the end of 1999 he was involved in a state project with which - also by means of DNA examinations  - the thylacine was sought in remote parts of Tasmania; the animal has often been thought to be extinct since 1936, but there have been repeated reports of alleged recent sightings.

Brothers exchanged its knowledge and experience nationally and internationally with numerous scientific institutions, authorities, professional associations and business enterprises. Contacts existed in particular:

The numerous photographs Brothers' found their way into various book and magazine publications and were TV channels like the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) , different channels of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and National Geographic as well as newspapers such as The Times in London used ; they can also be found in several scientific museums.

In 2001, the year he left the civil service, Brothers and David Pemberton, the zoologist at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery , published the extensive book Tasmania's Offshore Islands: Seabirds and Other Natural Features , in which he summarized the findings of his numerous research trips. Brothers had already received media attention as a " whistleblower " when he criticized the practice of the Australian Antarctic Division in 2000 and thus made it public to brand seals on Macquarie Island for research purposes . At the international level, Brothers participated in improvements in longline fishing , especially to reduce bycatch and the dangers for diving seabirds, as well as in general in consistent measures to protect seabirds and especially albatrosses .

From 2001 to 2010, Brothers increasingly appeared with scientific specialist articles, partly in cooperation with scientists from international universities, partly with such state research centers.

Nigel Brothers also worked in an advisory capacity on the Australian television series Island Life , which was broadcast from 2002.

Publications

The best-known Brothers' book is Tasmania's Offshore Islands: Seabirds and Other Natural Features with 643 pages and numerous, mostly self-made photos, published in two editions in 2001 (together with David Pemberton).

Many of his book publications deal with longline fishing, especially the dangers for albatrosses and other sea birds from the bait fish released , but also with technical innovations in order to be able to use the lines directly in greater water depths:

  • Approaches to Reducing Albatross Mortality and associated Bait Loss in the Japanese Longline Fishery from 1989;
  • A mechanical Bait Throwing Device for Longline Fisheries - Performance Assessment of a Test Machine from 1993;
  • Status and Conservation of Albatrosses and their Interactions with Fisheries , published in two editions in 1996;
  • Catching Fish, not Birds - A Guide to Improving your Longline Fishing Efficiency, 1996;
  • Longline Fishing Dollars and Sense - Catching Fish, not Birds, using Bottom set or Mid Water set Longlines , English and Spanish;
  • Status and at-sea Distribution of Shy Albatrosses and their Overlap with Longline Fishing Operations from 1998;
  • Seabird Interactions with Longline Fishing in the AFZ , four editions from 1998 to 2001;
  • Construction and Evaluation of an Underwater Setting Device to prevent accidental Capture of Seabirds on Tuna Longlines from 2001 and
  • Performance Assessment and Performance Improvement of two Underwater Line Setting Devices for Avoidance of Seabird Interactions in pelagic Longline Fisheries from 2009.

Several of the Brothers' book publications deal specifically with remote Macquarie Island:

  • Status and Conservation of Albatrosses on Macquarie Island , published in two editions in 1995 and 1996 (together with Rosemary Gales);
  • Endangered - Working together for the Future of Albatrosses on Macquarie Island from 1996 (together with Jenny Scott) and
  • Status and Conservation of Albatrosses and Giant Petrels on Macquarie Island from 2001 (with Aleks Terauds);
  • in addition, Brothers' field records from his own time on Macquarie Island were published, as early as 1976 for his first stay, then in 2000 at the time from 1978.

Other book publications deal with geological and geomorphological topics:

  • Reconnaissance Geology and Geomorphology of the Major Islands south of Tasmania from 1993 (together with Maxwell R. Banks).

There are also numerous articles by Brothers in various journals, for example in Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania .

Awards

In 1996, Nigel Brothers received both the Flora and Fauna Conservation Award and the Gold Banksia Award from the Australian Banksia Environmental Foundation . The foundation was established in 1989 and is named after the plant genus Banksien , which occur almost exclusively in Australia; Among other things, the Foundation supports environmental protection and sustainable business activities with its awards .

In July 1995, the Tasmanian government recognized Brothers for their special commitment to protecting the environment after the ship Iron Baron ran aground on the Hebe Reef in northern Tasmania and lost oil.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Nigel Brothers on the web portal of the National Library of Australia , accessed on January 26, 2019.
  2. ↑ Overview on the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service web portal , accessed on January 26, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Publications by Nigel Brothers on the web portal Libraries Tasmania , accessed on January 26, 2019 (English).
  4. ↑ a b c Contacts and correspondence from Nigel Brothers on the Libraries Tasmania web portal , accessed on January 26, 2019.
  5. ↑ a b Overview of publications by Nigel Brothers on the researchgate.net web portal , accessed on January 26, 2019 (English).
  6. ↑ Nigel Brothers on the web portal imdb.com , accessed on February 4, 2019 (English).
  7. ^ Awards for Nigel Brothers on the Libraries Tasmania web portal , accessed on January 26, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Brothers, Nigel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brothers, Nigel P .; Brothers, NP; Brothers, Nigel Peter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian scientist, non-fiction author, photographer, environmentalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Tasmania , Australia