Satellite
data suggests protection measures are being ignored as huge fishing lines snare
endangered seabirds
Thu 31
Jan 2019 11.21 GMT
Industrial
fishing vessels that accidentally kill tens of thousands of albatrosses each
year routinely ignore regulations designed to save the birds from extinction,
according to research.
Using
satellite data, investigators found that vessels employing longline fishing
techniques showed a “low level of compliance” with measures to reduce albatross
deaths.
Longliners
target tuna and other species, but their fishing lines – which can be up to 80
miles long – also unintentionally trap, drown and harm seabirds, as well as
turtles, dolphins and other marine life, a process known as “bycatch”.
Modern
fishing methods have been identified as a major danger to plummeting albatross
populations, threatening to drive almost three-quarters of all species to
extinction, said Birdlife International, who undertook the research in
conjunction with Global Fishing Watch.
Under a
red list compiled by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature, 15 out of 22 albatross species are considered endangered.
The
study, which drew on satellite data to map the behaviour of longliners in the
Indian, Atlantic and western central Pacific ocean, revealed that just 15% of
the vessels used a measure known as “night-setting”, which involves putting
lines down at night. The technique is one of three mitigation measures designed
to protect albatrosses, which only feed during the day.
The
findings offered a stark contrast with reports given by countries to fisheries
watchdogs that suggested night-setting was used by between 29% and 85% of
fleets.
“The
results are very disappointing,” said Stephanie Winnard, a biologist with
the albatross
task force, a specialist unit set up by Birdlife International and the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. “By this stage you would expect a
lot more vessels to be using night setting.”
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