Seabird Bycatch: Welfare and Conservation Crisis from Fishing Gear

Hundreds of thousands of seabirds die annually as bycatch in commercial fishing operations, causing both catastrophic conservation losses and significant individual suffering.

Key Facts

An estimated 160,000-320,000 seabirds die as bycatch every year globally
Albatrosses are particularly vulnerable to longline fishing and are among the most affected families
Drowning while entangled in fishing gear causes prolonged suffering before death
Simple mitigation measures including bird-scaring lines and night setting can reduce bycatch by over 90%
19 of 22 albatross species are threatened with extinction, largely due to bycatch

Welfare Considerations

Seabird bycatch combines individual welfare harms — drowning is a prolonged and distressing death — with population-level conservation catastrophe. Albatrosses, which can live 70 years and raise just one chick every two years, cannot sustain these mortality rates. The tragedy is compounded by the availability of cheap, effective mitigation: bird-scaring lines and weighted branch lines can slash bycatch dramatically. Industry resistance to adoption of known solutions is both a welfare and conservation failure.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood from fisheries with documented bycatch monitoring and mitigation programs
Support organizations like BirdLife International's Albatross Task Force
Advocate for mandatory bycatch mitigation measures in fishing licenses and certification
Reduce consumption of seafood from high-bycatch fisheries including certain longline operations
Support international agreements requiring seabird bycatch reporting and mitigation