Wild Seabird Welfare and Longline Fishing Bycatch

Longline fishing kills hundreds of thousands of seabirds including albatrosses and petrels annually as bycatch, representing one of the most significant human-caused seabird welfare problems.

Key Facts

An estimated 300,000 seabirds including 100,000 albatrosses die as longline bycatch annually
Albatrosses attracted to baited hooks dive and become hooked as lines are set
All 22 albatross species are threatened or endangered in part due to longline bycatch
Simple mitigation measures including weighted lines and bird-scaring devices reduce bycatch by 80 to 90 percent
International fisheries agreements require bycatch mitigation in some fisheries but compliance is variable

Welfare Considerations

Seabird longline bycatch welfare combines two tragic dimensions: individual suffering and population-level impact on long-lived, slowly reproducing species. Albatrosses hooked on longlines drown — pulled underwater by line weight, they cannot surface for air. The individual welfare harm of drowning is severe. The population-level impact is catastrophic because albatrosses have among the lowest reproductive rates of any bird, taking a decade to reach sexual maturity. Eliminating bycatch through inexpensive mitigation measures would simultaneously prevent individual suffering and stabilize declining populations.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified to fisheries with mandatory seabird bycatch mitigation measures
Support international agreements requiring bycatch mitigation on all longline vessels
Donate to organizations developing and deploying bycatch reduction devices in longline fisheries
Advocate for full observer coverage on longline vessels to ensure mitigation compliance