Longline fisheries targeting tuna and other large fish kill hundreds of thousands of seabirds annually through bycatch, with albatrosses being particularly vulnerable to population-level impacts.
Seabird bycatch on longlines causes drowning deaths — a sustained and distressing process for air-breathing birds. Albatrosses in particular are attracted to the offal and baited hooks of longline vessels; they dive and become hooked and dragged underwater. Because albatrosses have very low reproductive rates — typically raising one chick every two years — the loss of even a small number of adults has population-level consequences. The technological solutions exist and are proven effective; the challenge is enforcement and compliance on vessels operating in remote ocean areas with minimal oversight.