Longline fishing for tuna and other species kills an estimated 320,000 seabirds annually, including many threatened albatross species, through accidental hook ingestion.
Longline-hooked seabirds drown as the line descends, or survive with hooks embedded in their throats and faces, dying slowly. Albatrosses and petrels are particularly vulnerable because they follow fishing vessels over vast ocean distances seeking food. The welfare impact on individual birds is severe, and the population impact threatens entire species. The solutions are proven, affordable, and widely available — the barrier is lack of regulation and enforcement.