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Seabirds
There are nearly 400 species of birds that are closely associated with the marine environment. Seabirds occur in all oceans, at all latitudes, and therefore interact with all fisheries. Fisheries bycatch, however, differs depending on gear type, ocean region and interacting seabird species. Longline fisheries are known to kill many scavenging birds in high latitudes: albatrosses, petrels, fulmars and gulls are the most commonly hooked birds. Gillnet fisheries entangle and drown pursuit diving birds: penguins, shearwaters, auks, sea ducks, and loons. It was recently realized, that many seabird species, such as albatrosses, petrels, fulmars and shearwaters also die after colliding with warp cables of industrial trawlers or getting stuck in trawl nets. It appears that seabird bycatch is not a major concern in tropical regions, except for Hawaii, where seabird communities are dominated by surface plunge foragers, but not scavengers and pursuit divers as in temperate and polar regions.
General Seabird Links:
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ACAP - Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels
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Alaska Seabird Incidental Take Reduction Program and Longline Gear Seabird Avoidance Measures
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Australian Antarctic Division - Seabird mortality in longline fisheries
- BA Albatross Conservation
- Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
- Convention
on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
(Reducing incidental effects of longline fishing in the Antartic) -
FAO International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries
(Includes link to National Plans of Action) - North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database
- Save the Albatross - RFBPS (New Zealand)
Sea Grant Washington publications
(Several about reducing seabird bycatch in longline fisheries)- Seabird bycatch - The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- U.S. and International Seabird Bycatch Reduction Efforts