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Advocacy with fishery managers
As well as working directly with fishermen through the Albatross Task Force, the Save the Albatross Campaign works with fishery managers at national, regional and international levels, to influence the development and adoption of agreements and measures to reduce seabird bycatch.
These include working with Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, the FAO and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.
Regional Fisheries Management Organisations
Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) are the organisations through which countries collaborate to manage fish stocks on the high seas, as well as those that straddle the coastal waters of more than one country. Under the UN Law of the Sea and linked agreements, RFMOs have a duty to minimise the bycatch of non-target species in their fisheries, including albatrosses, sharks and sea turtles.
Since 2004, the Global Seabird Programme has been working with Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to reduce seabird bycatch.
BirdLife is particularly working with the world's five tuna commissions, whose fisheries overlap with over 80% of global albatross distribution. Four of the five tuna commissions now have requirements for the global longline fleets to use seabird bycatch mitigation measures in areas of risk of seabird bycatch, compared to just one in 2004. It is hoped that the fifth (Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission) will follow suit in 2010.
The five tuna commissions are: Commission for Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).
FAO's National Plans of Action
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) helps developing countries, and countries in transition, modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries practices and ensure good nutrition for all.
The International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries (IPOA-Seabirds) was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1998 to comply with the Code of FAO Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (see below).
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has encouraged all member countries to implement the International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries (IPOA-Seabirds). In implementing the IPOA-Seabirds, States assess the seabird bycatch problem within their fisheries and/or within their coastal waters.
If a bycatch problem exists, each State then develops and implements a National Plan of Action (NPOA), based on the recommendations listed in the International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries.
The development of an effective National Plan of Action has now been assisted by the publication of a set of Best Practice Technical Guidelines at the 28th Session of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Committee on Fisheries in March 2009.
This is a significant step for seabird conservation, and while there is considerable work still to be done with countries and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to implement the Best Practice Technical Guidelines for the first time, we have a baseline that all National Plan of Action-Seabirds should strive to meet for longline, trawl and potentially gillnet fisheries.
The Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP)
In early 2001 negotiations concluded on an international treaty, the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.
This agreement requires signatory states to take specific measures to improve the conservation status of albatrosses and petrels. Measures include research and monitoring, reduction of incidental mortality in fisheries, eradication of non-native species at breeding sites, reduction of disturbance and habitat loss, and reduction of pollution.
The Agreement is established under the auspices of the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species and is legally binding.
The following countries have ratified the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) agreement to date: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, France, Ecuador, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Republic of South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, and the USA.
BirdLife is the main NGO Observer at all Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) meetings and plays an active role in all ACAP Working Groups, especially Seabird Bycatch Working Group. It is also co-leading on the identification of Internationally Important Sites for ACAP species and in developing indicators to measure conservation progress through the ACAP Agreement.
Last modified: 26 February 2010