Seabirds

In pelagic longline fisheries, seabirds may become hooked and drown when they take a baited hook, either during line setting or hauling. Mitigation of seabird bycatch aims to deter and prevent birds from taking bait, principally through the combined use of three techniques, including streamer (tori) lines, fast sinking, weighted branch lines and night setting. Alternatively, ACAP recommend the use of an assessed* hook shielding device (e.g., HookPod) or underwater bait setting device. Seabird bycatch in purse seine tuna fisheries is rare, while poorly described for gillnet tuna fisheries.

*ACAP (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) conduct a regular review of scientific literature dealing with seabird bycatch mitigation in pelagic longline fisheries. The review and resulting summary of Best Practice Advice can be found here: ACAP Review of Mitigation Measures and Best Practice Advice for Reducing the Impact of Pelagic Longline Fisheries on Seabirds (September 2024)

Handy species ID guides can be found here. For detailed information about seabird species affected by longline and purse seine fisheries, the following resources may be helpful:

• ACAP Data Portal - Albatross & Petrel species
• Avibase - World bird database - taxonomy, distribution, maps, links
• Birdlife International Data Zone - Species Search
• e-Bird - citizen science database  - bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, trends