What is the Problem?

Peter Ryan This haul of dead seabirds (mainly White-chinned Petrels) is from one fishing trip by a single fishing vessel. Zoom In

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.