Hundreds of thousands of seabirds are killed as bycatch in longline fisheries annually. Simple, cheap mitigation measures can dramatically reduce this preventable suffering.
Seabird bycatch deaths involve acute welfare suffering. Birds that dive for baited hooks are pulled underwater as the line sinks, drowning while entangled. The duration of drowning and the experience of entanglement represent significant suffering. For species that form lifelong pair bonds and have very low reproductive rates — albatrosses raise one chick per year and live 70+ years — each individual lost to bycatch has enormous population and social significance. The tragedy of seabird bycatch is that it is so preventable: tori lines that stream colorful streamers above the line during setting, UV-attractant baits set at night when seabirds cannot see them, and weighted hooks that sink quickly below diving depth are all cheap, effective, and widely applicable. Lack of enforcement of existing bycatch mitigation requirements is the primary barrier to elimination.