Hundreds of thousands of seabirds are killed annually as bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries. Simple mitigation measures can dramatically reduce mortality for albatrosses, petrels, and other species.
Seabird bycatch causes both welfare harm and population-level conservation damage. Individual birds die through drowning after becoming hooked during longline setting — a death that, for highly air-breathing birds, is likely prolonged and distressing. The population-level consequences compound the welfare calculus: albatrosses are among the slowest-reproducing birds on Earth, raising a single chick every two years; even modest bycatch rates can exceed population replacement capacity. The welfare and conservation solution is technically straightforward — tori lines, weighted hooks, and night setting have all been validated as effective mitigation — but implementation requires regulatory mandates rather than voluntary adoption. Consumer pressure on seafood companies to require bycatch mitigation in supply chains is one of the most direct leverage points available.