As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 23 December 2012

Landmark move to protect albatrosses in the Western and Central Pacific


More protection for albatross
December 2012. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) have agreed to measures that could result in significant reductions in the deaths of albatrosses, which accidently get snagged on longline fishing hooks and then drown.

Two seabird bycatch mitigation measures
The meeting, held in the Philippines, announced that all longline vessels in the South Pacific will now be required to use two seabird bycatch mitigation measures in areas overlapping with albatrosses (South of 30S). Vessels must choose from a choice of either bird streamers, also known as tori lines, which scare birds away from the hooks; adding weights to hooks to make them sink more quickly; or setting hooks at night when most birds are less active.

The move brings the WCPFC, which is the world's largest tuna commission, in-line with the measures adopted in Atlantic in November 2011 and the Indian Ocean in April 2012.
300,000 seabirds killed in longline fisheries

Scientists estimate that upwards of 300,000 seabirds are being killed every year by longline fisheries; it's believed this is the primary reason behind 17 of the world's 22 species of albatrosses being threatened with extinction.

Albatross populations
Home to globally important populations of 14 albatross species, including Antipodean, Chatham, Buller's, Salvin's, Shy and White-capped, the Pacific Ocean is home to large fleets of longliners fishing for tuna. Tuna longliners typically deploy several thousand hooks every day, attached by branchlines to a main line that can be more than 100km long. Seabirds, especially albatrosses, are vulnerable to becoming hooked when they take the bait, and are drowned as the line sinks.

Dr Cleo Small, from the RSPB and BirdLife International, said: "This move is great news for albatrosses worldwide, including some UK albatross species such as the wandering albatross, which fly right around the world in the non-breeding period and can be victims of bycatch from the longliners that fish in the South Pacific. Without such measures, these beautiful birds could be lost forever."


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