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The problem - and the solutions

Wandering albatross, drowned
Wandering albatross drowned by a longline

Humans are now exploiting the oceans intensively. Industrial-scale longline fishing is a comparatively recent addition to open-ocean fishing techniques.

Thousands of baited hooks are attached to lines. Some lines can be an incredible 80 miles long and carry up to 10,000 hooks.

These are towed at depth behind fishing vessels so they can catch vast numbers of large fish like southern bluefin tuna and Patagonian toothfish.  

The slaughter of seabirds takes place when the hooks are still visible near the sea's surface. The foraging birds spot them and try to grab the bait before it sinks. They are hooked, dragged under, and drowned.

What can be done?

There are ways to stop seabird deaths on longlines, which many fishermen, once they understand what's involved, are keen to adopt. After all, for a fisherman, bait lost to birds is a lost catch of fish. With our partners in BirdLife International, the RSPB is urging fisheries to take practical steps to protect endangered seabirds. 

These preventative measures include:

  • using bird scaring devices to scare birds away from baited lines
  • weighting lines to make baited hooks sink more quickly 
  • using thawed, not frozen bait (as it sinks more quickly) 
  • dying bait blue, making it harder for birds to see in the water 
  • setting lines only at night, because most albatrosses feed by day    
  • using special tubes to release the fishing lines deep under water   

Steps have already been taken. The RSPB and BirdLife partners have campaigned for more countries to sign the treaty, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.   

This agreement, legally binding on the signatories, requires them to take specific measures to reduce the number of albatrosses and petrels killed by longline fishing. It was finally signed by the UK in April 2004.

Albatross Task Force (formerly Operation Ocean Task Force)

The RSPB and BirdLife are creating an international team of people to work directly with fishermen on shore and at sea.

Fishermen are often unaware of the techniques that can - if used - rapidly reduce albatross deaths.

We know that dramatic results can be achieved by people working with fishermen, showing them how to use simple cost-efficient ways of fishing without catching albatrosses and telling them about how albatross numbers are declining.

Although observers are already working on boats to record seabird deaths from fishing, there is a real shortage of qualified at-sea instructors to train fishermen and get something practical done. 

There is no coordinated team of such practical people. Albatross Task Force will be that much needed team.

The Albatross Task Force is supported by Restore UK.

Last modified: 16 March 2006

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