Save the Albatross
















I decided to place this information on my blog after hearing about the plight of these magnificent birds on 5Live Drive on the way home on Friday 26 May. Of course I've always had a subliminal attraction to the albatross through Monty Python and it seems that although you might not get wafers with it, you will definitely catch one if you are fishing with a long line in the Southern Ocean.

Most albatrosses and several other seabird species are heading for extinction. They are being unintentionally drowned in large numbers by "longline" fishing boats. Longlining is the single greatest threat to the world's seabirds. Much of it is carried out by "pirate" fishing boats. BirdLife's Save the Albatross Campaign is trying to stop the needless slaughter of these magnificent birds by ensuring that relevant international agreements are implemented that will benefit both the birds and the legal fishing industry.

What is Longlining?

Thousands of hooks waiting to be baited and set astern. In the 1980s, longlining became an increasingly popular method of fishing, partly in response to the increasing demand for high-quality, high-value fish destined for the clientele of upmarket restaurants.
Many nations have fishing vessels engaged in longlining, but the fisheries of particular concern are those targeting Southern Bluefin Tuna and Patagonian Toothfish. During line setting, longliners set a single line up to 130 km long behind the boat. Attached to it are literally thousands of baited hooks. An estimated 1 billion hooks are set annually by the world's longline fleets.
Some of the baited hooks are eaten not by their intended targets, but by albatrosses and other seabirds. The hooked birds are dragged under water and drown. Simple methods for reducing the number of birds caught are available and BirdLife's Campaign to Save the Albatross is seeking to ensure that these measures are used.

What is the Problem?

Albatrosses and other seabirds often feed by scavenging for food behind fishing vessels and other boats, waiting for prey to be disturbed or scraps thrown overboard.
When longlining, fishing boats set thousands of baited hooks on a fishing line to catch fish. Seabirds scavenging behind these boats try to eat the bait from the hooks as they are set behind the boat. Some birds swallow the hooks and are dragged underwater and drown.
More than 300,000 seabirds are killed in this way each year. 26 species of seabird, including 17 species of albatrosses, are in danger of extinction because of the deaths caused by longlining.
Once set, the hooks are too deep for the birds to reach. To stop birds being needlessly killed, it is essential to stop them having the opportunity to swallow the baited hooks before they have sunk.
Many cheap and readily implemented solutions have been, and are being developed. Employing these will be of benefit to the fishermen themselves because the more bait eaten by birds, the smaller the catch of fish.

What are the Solutions?

Practical measures

To prevent birds swallowing the baited hooks before they have sunk below their reach, many simple measures have been devised some of which are cheap and easy to implement. Examples include:
Towing bird-scaring (or tori) lines behind the vessel. These have plastic streamers tied to them that flap in the wind and scare birds away from the baited fishing line.
Using an underwater setting tube. These set the fishing line underwater out of reach of the birds.
Tying enough weights to the fishing line so that it sinks more quickly out of reach of the birds.
Using thawed not frozen bait as it sinks more quickly.
dying the bait blue. This puts birds off eating it.
setting lines at night. Most albatrosses feed mainly by day.
BirdLife believes measures like these should be as routine a part of longlining as the line itself, and international agreements have been developed to encourage their use.

Fisheries regulation

Several fisheries have international regulatory bodies. They set fishing quotas and limits and encourage the implementation of best fishing practices. (For example, The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) regulates fishing in Antarctic waters and requires the use of seabird mitigation measures.)
These regulatory bodies can introduce measures like setting fishery or vessel specific by-catch quotas or closing fisheries seasonally or temporarily to protect the economic interests of fishermen or particular wildlife (for example, to concentrate fishing to times of least impact to seabirds).
A key aspect of BirdLife's Campaign is to work with fisheries regulatory bodies to encourage the use of seabird mitigation measures.

Catch certification

BirdLife also recommends that fishing vessels should employ independent onboard scientific observers. These observers can monitor and assess the scale of seabird by-catch and train fishermen in the appropriate use of prevention measures.
Observers can also supervise the capture, packing and sealing of this legally caught fish and then issue a certificate stating its provenance and enabling it to be labelled as "albatross-friendly". Consumers then have the option to buy fish caught in this manner. Such a catch documentation scheme is in operation for legally caught Patagonian Toothfish in CCAMLR (Antarctic) waters.
Many fishing vessels operate illegally outside of the above agreements and regulations. These Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) or "pirate" fishing vessels, are responsible for killing thousands of seabirds each year.

For more information on how to save this magnificent bird go to:

http://www.savethealbatross.net/index.asp