Seabirds including albatrosses and petrels are killed in enormous numbers by longline fishing hooks, making bycatch one of the leading threats to seabird populations globally.
Seabirds killed by longline hooks die by drowning after being hooked and dragged underwater. The death involves both physical trauma from the hook and drowning, and is not instantaneous. The scale - hundreds of thousands of birds annually - makes this one of the most significant ongoing welfare crises affecting wild animals. Mitigation measures are available, effective and often inexpensive, but adoption is inconsistent. Certification schemes like the Marine Stewardship Council increasingly require bycatch mitigation, and consumer pressure for certified seafood creates market incentives for fisheries to adopt bird-safe practices.