The majority of Short-tailed Albatrosses nest on Torishima Island, an intermittently active, volcanic Japanese island. The species ranges throughout most of the North Pacific, including off the coast of British Columbia, where it is likely a year-round visitor, with estimated numbers around 400 individuals. This represents around 6% of the global population, and a low degree of responsibility for Canada. Once a very common visitor to the British Columbia coast, the slaughter of Short-tailed Albatrosses for the feather trade in the early 20th century reduced the population to a few individuals. By 1949, the species was thought to be extinct but it persisted, thanks to ~50 immature birds being at sea during the final harvests. Since then, the global population has rebounded to over 6,870 individuals and continues to increase  (P. Sievert, University of Massachusetts, pers. comm.), but no trend is available specific to the Canadian population, which is therefore considered data deficient. The species was assessed as Threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in 2003 due to its small population size and vulnerability, and reconfirmed at that level in 2013 (COSEWIC, 2013). It has been listed as Threatened under the Species at Risk Act since 2005.