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.

Saturday 8 November 2014

Namibia takes positive steps to save 30,000 seabirds a year


By Shaun Hurrell, Fri, 07/11/2014 - 12:09

Following a meeting with the BirdLife’s Albatross Task Force, The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources in Namibia has introduced new fishery regulations which should practically eliminate seabird mortality from one of the most destructive fisheries in the world.

This is more excellent news for the Albatross Task Force (ATF) who have been working with the Ministry in Namibia since 2008, and have demonstrated that the combined levels of seabird mortality for their hake longline and trawl fisheries is around 30,000 seabirds per year, which is one of the highest levels in the world.

The ATF have demonstrated that adoption of simple and cost-effective mitigation measures in both these fisheries could reduce mortality to negligible levels.

Incidental bycatch in fisheries constitutes the major threat for many vulnerable populations of seabirds. Globally 300,000 seabirds are killed in longline and trawl fisheries each year where they are hooked and drown on baited hooks or are struck by trawl cables and dragged under water. Approximately 100,000 of these birds are albatross, the most threatened family of birds with 15 of 22 species at risk of extinction.

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