ACAP's latest Review of Mitigation Measures and Best Practice Advice for reducing the impact of pelagic longline fisheries on seabirds has just been published (October 2021).
ACAP recommends the simultaneous use of weighted branch lines, bird scaring lines and night setting as the most effective approach to mitigate seabird bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries. Three hook-shielding devices, the ‘Hookpod-LED’, ‘Hookpod-mini’ and the ‘Smart Tuna Hook’, and one underwater bait setting device, the ‘Underwater Bait Setter (Skadia Technologies)’ are recent additions to the list of best practice measures.
As well as approved measures, promising measures under active development and those that are not recommended are considered in the document.
ACAP and New Zealand's Department of Conservation have published infographics on threats to three albatross species. The image used for this story comes from the Antipodean albatross infographic.
Keep albatrosses off the hook - adopt best practice mitigation measures