Albatrosses and petrels have been important food sources for humans for as long as people have been able to reach their remote breeding colonies. Amongst the earliest-known examples of this is the remains of shearwaters and albatrosses along with those of other seabirds in 5,000-year-old middens in Chile, although it is likely that they were exploited prior to this. Since then, many other marine cultures, both subsistence and industrial, have exploited procellariiforms, in some cases almost to extinction. Some cultures continue to harvest shearwaters (a practice known as muttonbirding); for example, the Māori of New Zealand use a sustainable traditional method known as kaitiakitanga. In Alaska, residents of Kodiak Island harpoon short-tailed albatrosses, Diomedea albatrus, and until the late 1980s residents of Tristan Island in the Indian Ocean harvested the eggs of the Yellow-nosed Mollymawks, Diomedea chlororhynchos, and sooty albatrosses, Phoebetria fusca. Albatrosses and petrels are also now tourist draws in some locations, such as Taiaroa Head. While such exploitation is non-consumptive, it can have deleterious effects that need careful management to protect both the birds and the tourism.
Albatrosses and petrels have been important food sources for humans for as long as people have been able to reach their remote breeding colonies Amongst the earliest-known examples of this is the remains of shearwaters and albatrosses along with those of other seabirds in 5000-year-old middens in Chile although it is likely that they were exploited prior to this Since then many other marine cultures both subsistence and industrial have exploited procellariiforms in some cases almost to extinction Some cultures continue to harvest shearwaters (a practice known as muttonbirding); for example the Māori of New Zealand use a sustainable traditional method known as kaitiakitanga In Alaska residents of Kodiak Island harpoon short-tailed albatrosses Diomedea albatrus and until the late 1980s residents of Tristan Island in the Indian Ocean harvested the eggs of the Yellow-nosed Mollymawks Diomedea chlororhynchos and sooty albatrosses Phoebetria fusca Albatrosses and petrels are also now tourist draws in some locations such as Taiaroa Head While such exploitation is non-consumptive it can have deleterious effects that need careful management to protect both the birds and the tourism