Seabirds compete with commercial fisheries for the same fish species, and bycatch in fishing gear kills hundreds of thousands of seabirds globally each year.
Seabirds drowned on longline hooks die slowly by drowning after becoming trapped. Multiple mitigation measures including tori lines, bird scaring lines, and night setting have been shown to reduce bycatch by over 80%. Consumer choice of sustainably certified seafood drives adoption of bycatch reduction measures. Protecting forage fish stocks including sand eels through fisheries management also protects seabird breeding welfare.