Albatross Bycatch: The Longline Fishing Crisis

Albatrosses are among the world's most at-risk seabirds, with 15 of 22 species threatened with extinction largely due to incidental capture (bycatch) on longline fishing hooks in the Southern Ocean and beyond.

Key Facts

Albatrosses have the largest wingspan of any bird — up to 3.5 metres in the wandering albatross — enabling effortless gliding over oceans
They are extremely long-lived (some exceed 70 years) and breed slowly — most raise only one chick every two years
An estimated 100,000 albatrosses are killed annually as bycatch on longline fishing vessels targeting tuna and Patagonian toothfish
Albatrosses are attracted to baited hooks during setting and become hooked, dragged underwater, and drowned
Simple mitigation measures — bird-scaring lines, weighted lines that sink quickly, night setting — can reduce bycatch by up to 90%
Many fishing fleets refuse to adopt these measures without regulatory pressure despite their low cost
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) coordinates international mitigation efforts

Welfare Considerations

Bycatch deaths are not instantaneous — albatrosses caught on longline hooks may struggle for extended periods before drowning. The experience of capture, disorientation, and slow drowning represents acute suffering for birds that are highly cognitively complex, mate for life, and demonstrate remarkable navigational intelligence. Breeding pairs of albatrosses whose mate is killed by bycatch may wait years at the nest site for a partner that will never return. Chicks whose parents fail to return starve slowly. The welfare and conservation dimensions of albatross bycatch are inseparable: the deaths of breeding adults collapse populations of slow-reproducing species far faster than natural recovery can offset.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or equivalent standards that require bycatch mitigation
Support BirdLife International's Albatross Task Force working with fishing fleets to adopt mitigation measures
Advocate for international fishing agreements that mandate bycatch mitigation on all longline vessels
Donate to Save the Albatross campaign protecting these remarkable long-lived birds
Reduce consumption of tuna and toothfish caught in high-bycatch areas without mitigation certification
Support ACAP member countries in implementing and enforcing bycatch reduction regulations