Seabird Bycatch: Albatrosses and Longline Fishing

Longline fishing kills hundreds of thousands of seabirds annually as accidental bycatch, threatening several albatross species and causing significant individual animal suffering.

Key Facts

An estimated 300,000 seabirds are killed as bycatch annually, including 100,000 albatrosses
19 of 22 albatross species are threatened with extinction, primarily due to longline bycatch
Albatrosses are slow to reproduce — a single breeding pair produces one chick every two years
Bird-scaring lines, line weighting and night setting can reduce seabird bycatch by 90%
ACAP (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) coordinates international bycatch reduction

Welfare Considerations

Seabird bycatch is a welfare catastrophe that occurs mostly out of sight on the open ocean. Albatrosses attracted to baited longline hooks are hooked, dragged underwater and drowned — a process that is neither quick nor painless. The scale of this killing threatens the survival of species that mate for life and invest years in raising each offspring. Mitigation measures are cheap and effective — they simply need to be adopted and enforced. Consumer choices and pressure on fishing fleets to adopt best practice can make a measurable difference.

What You Can Do

Choose MSC or equivalent certified seafood that requires bycatch mitigation measures
Support BirdLife International and ACAP's seabird bycatch reduction campaigns
Advocate for mandatory bycatch mitigation on all commercial longline fishing vessels
Reduce consumption of fish species associated with high bycatch rates