Seabirds

In pelagic longline fisheries, seabirds may become hooked and drown when they take a baited hook. Mitigation of seabird bycatch aims to deter and prevent birds from taking bait, principally through the combined use of multiple techniques, including streamer (tori) lines, fast sinking, weighted branch lines, night setting and, most recently, hook shielding devices (i.e., HookPod). 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 and Best Practice Advice for Reducing the Impact of Pelagic Longline Fisheries on Seabirds (October 2021)

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