From BirdLife:
Fiji Petrel found at sea – pungent fish attracts “lost” species
11-09-2009
An expedition to find the Critically Endangered Fiji Petrel Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi at sea has been successful, returning with stunning images and new information on one of the world’s least-known seabirds.
The expedition was partially financed by a grant from the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme and its official sponsor, the British Birdwatching Fair. The team included members of NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, the BirdLife Species Guardian for Fiji Petrel.
Known from just one specimen collected in 1855 on Gau Island, Fiji, the Fiji Petrel was lost for the next 130 years. Since 1984 there have been a handful of reports of “grounded” birds that had crashed onto village roofs on Gau. Until now there had been no confirmed sightings of the seabird at sea.
The search for the elusive petrel is described in a paper in the latest Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club. Up to eight individuals were seen over eleven days in an area around 25 nautical miles south of Gau. The species’ flight, behaviour and detailed comparison to other species are also described for the first time.
The paper’s lead author, Hadoram Shirihai, said: “Finding this bird and capturing such images was a fantastic and exhilarating experience”. Fellow expedition member Tony Pym commented, “To see such a little-known bird at such close range was magical.”
Finding Fiji Petrel at sea was no accident, combining meticulous planning and luring the seabirds with a specially made food, called “chum”. The main ingredients of chum? Fish offal cut into small pieces and mixed with very dense fish oil, to which water was added and then frozen in 10-kg blocks. The chum was prepared a few weeks ahead by volunteers from the BirdLife Affiliate in Fiji, NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, the official BirdLife Species Guardian for Fiji Petrel.
See also here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Making – and keeping – Fiji’s islands rat-free – Working with partner organisations and local communities, BirdLife has launched a three-year project to make the newly rat-free status of nine Fijian islands permanent. Most documented extinctions of Pacific island birds are the result of invasive alien species such as rats. BirdLife has successfully eradicated rats from the nine islands: Vatu-i-Ra, Mabualau, and the seven Ringgold islands. A year later, surveys show all the islands are still rat-free. Communities have asked for assistance to develop Protected Area status for these islands, to prevent alien species reintroduction and unsustainable resource use, and to enhance their tourism potential. The project will work with the island-owning mataqali to establish community-based Protected Areas on all nine islands. With funding from the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative, BirdLife is implementing this project through its regional Secretariat in Suva, in close collaboration with local NGO NatureFiji-MareqetiViti and the government of Fiji.
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2009/10/news_in_brief_19.html
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