Seabird Bycatch: The Hidden Cost of Commercial Fishing

Seabirds including albatrosses, petrels, and gannets are accidentally caught and drowned in fishing gear annually in their thousands, representing a preventable welfare and conservation crisis.

Key Facts

An estimated 300,000 seabirds are killed annually as bycatch in commercial fishing operations
Longline fisheries are particularly problematic: birds dive for baited hooks and become hooked and drowned
Albatrosses are particularly vulnerable due to their long lifespan, low reproductive rate, and foraging behaviour
Bird-scaring lines (tori lines), night setting, and weighted lines significantly reduce seabird bycatch
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) promotes mitigation measures globally

Welfare Considerations

Seabirds that become entangled in fishing gear experience drowning - a prolonged, distressing death involving hypoxia, panic, and struggling. The welfare impact of each individual death is significant. At population scale, bycatch affects some of the world's most at-risk seabird populations, with cascading effects on remaining individuals who lose mates and must raise chicks alone or abandon breeding. Simple, inexpensive measures - tori lines, night setting, and line weighting - dramatically reduce bycatch when fishers adopt them.

What You Can Do

Support fisheries certified by the Marine Stewardship Council which require bycatch mitigation
Engage with campaigns requiring seabird bycatch mitigation as a condition of fishing licences
Support BirdLife International's Save the Albatross campaign and ACAP
Ask retailers about seabird bycatch mitigation in their fish supply chains
Advocate for mandatory tori line use in UK longline fisheries