CONSERVATION OF MARINE BIRDS IN THE DANISH MONARCHY 



277 



of fish meal. This fishing has undoubtedly 

 been the main reason for the decline in the 

 number of terns especially sandwich terns 

 which depend on these small fish species for 

 food. 



Unknown factors at sea. Large numbers 

 of pelagic seabirds, particularly fulmars, kitti- 

 wakes, and gannets, are washed up on the 

 western coast of Jutland in certain years (e.g., 

 1959, Joensen 1961:212). These birds died at 

 sea, for unknown reasons, and apparently as a 

 result of food shortages or oil pollution. 



Conservation 



The threats to seabirds mentioned above 

 are all well known to conservationists, who 

 are attempting to reduce the impact of these 

 factors on seabirds where possible. Insofar as 

 legal protection is concerned, it must be ad- 

 mitted that there are no marine sanctuaries in 

 Denmark, although several discussions have 

 taken place reviewing the possibility of estab- 

 lishing some in critical areas. There are, how- 

 ever, a number of sanctuaries on islands 

 where seabirds breed. In the Sanctuary Act of 

 1936 these areas were called "Scientific Re- 

 serves" because they were the site of scien- 

 tific investigations of bird life. All admission 

 was forbidden, at least during the breeding 

 season, and all shooting was prohibited, with 

 few exceptions. These sanctuaries were ad- 

 ministered by the government's Nature 

 Conservancy. 



The following Scientific Reserves are impor- 

 tant for seabirds: Hirsholmene Islands (in 

 Cattegat off Frederikshavn), Knotterne Is- 

 lands (small islets east of Laesri Island), 

 Vejlerne (diked in, landlocked fjords, densely 

 covered with vegetation, at the Lim Fjord), 

 Tipperne Peninsula and Klaegbanken Island 

 (in Ringkribing Fjord, western Jutland), 

 Varsri Island (Horsens Fjord, eastern Jut- 

 land), and Graeholm Island (Christians^ 

 Archipelago, in the Baltic off Bornholm). A 

 detailed description of these sites and their 

 erection, bird life, and ornithological value 

 was given by Salomonsen (1945). More re- 

 cently, two additional Scientific Reserves 

 have been established: Aegholm Islet (south 

 of Sealand), and Hesselri Island in the south- 

 ern part of Cattegat. 



In addition to these scientific sanctuaries, 



there are game reserves and governmental 

 forest reserves in Denmark. The game re- 

 serves are administered by the Ministry of 

 Agriculture, which is also responsible for 

 hunting legislation. The purpose of game re- 

 serves is to support and protect the stock of 

 game, which includes migrating birds. Shoot- 

 ing is usually prohibited, but a restricted 

 shooting season is allowed at some reserves. 

 More than 50 game reserves are now present 

 and functioning. Regulations differ widely 

 from reserve to reserve, but entry to some of 

 them is not allowed in the breeding season. 

 Many reserves are important for breeding or 

 migrating waterfowl and some seabirds. In 

 fact, a total of 26 game reserves contain sea- 

 birds, the most important of which are the fol- 

 lowing: Ulvedybet (landlocked fjord at the 

 Lim Fjord), Hjarbaek Fjord (landlocked fjord 

 with brackish water at the Lim Fjord), Fel- 

 sted Kog (landlocked fjord at Nissum Fjord), 

 Jordsand (large stretches, almost 11, 000 ha, 

 of the Danish Waddensea), Stavns Fjord (at 

 Samsri Island), Esrum Lake (in northern Sea- 

 land), and Kalvebod Beach (at Amager Island, 

 near Copenhagen). 



In the Nature Conservancy Act of 1969, dif- 

 ferences between scientific and game reserves 

 were abolished, although regulatory provi- 

 sions that were in force for the scientific sanc- 

 tuaries were maintained. Unfortunately, the 

 amalgamation of the two types of reserve has 

 given more power to the hunters' associa- 

 tions, which constitute the majority of the ad- 

 ministrative body of the reserves, the so- 

 called Game Commission ("Vildtnaevnet"). 

 However, any change in status of the original 

 scientific reserves will not be tolerated by con- 

 servationists and other environmental groups 

 in Denmark. 



The Faroe Islands 



The number of seabirds in the Faroe Islands 

 is greater than in any other region of the 

 North Atlantic, and is closely related to the 

 extraordinary richness of the plankton. The 

 high phytoplankton production is due to a 

 strong vertical mixing of the water in the 

 northeast Atlantic, especially at the slopes of 

 the submarine ridges, where both tidal cur- 

 rents and oceanic currents are usually strong. 



