Rome - A new major collaborative assessment of seabird interactions with pelagic longline fisheries helps address longstanding information gaps and provides fisheries managers and their fleets fresh impetus to help reduce seabird bycatch in the Southern Hemisphere.
The assessment, undertaken by the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) with support from the FAO Common Oceans Program's Tuna Project, brought together fisheries and seabird data from multiple countries and partners across the Southern Hemisphere.
Analysing 10 billion hooks of fishing effort and nearly 10,000 observed seabird captures, the assessment estimates that at least 30,000 seabirds are caught annually as bycatch in the pelagic longline fisheries assessed. The study also estimates the relative impact of this bycatch by considering both the species' vulnerability to capture and the size of their populations. Hotspots of seabird bycatch risk were identified in parts of the Tasman Sea, southern Indian Ocean and southeast Atlantic.
"This has been a major collaborative effort, showing the value of bringing together fisheries data, seabird science and management expertise to support more targeted and effective conservation action. The findings give managers a stronger evidence base to focus mitigation and monitoring efforts to reduce seabird mortality", said Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General and Director of FAO's Fisheries and Aquaculture Division. "The results will further support ongoing efforts by Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, governments, industry and other partners to reduce seabird bycatch."
Jonathon Barrington, executive secretary of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), said that fisheries bycatch remains a significant threat to certain species of albatross and petrel.
"The scale of the bycatch of birds is still significant, threatening the survivability of some species. Albatrosses and petrels are the most threatened seabird species in the world, with some species critically endangered," Barrington said.
Dominic Vallieres, executive secretary of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, welcomed the seabird assessment. "CCSBT Members have made a considerable investment in this work with the aim of supporting management outcomes that give greater consideration to the wider ecosystem," he said.
Practical measures make a difference in reducing seabird mortality
The Common Oceans Tuna Project works with 25 organizations, including Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), the fisheries sector, NGOs and other partners, to strengthen the application of measures designed to reduce interactions between seabirds and fishing gear.
It supports mitigation measures such as Tori bird-scaring lines, which keep birds away from baited hooks, weighted branch lines, and night settings. When applied together, these measures are more effective, and several RFMOs require a combination of measures. Hook pods that shield hooks until they sink beyond the reach of seabirds have also proven to be a highly effective mitigation technique.
Effective seabird bycatch management is supported by onboard observer programmes and electronic monitoring (EM), which provide valuable data on interactions between fishing vessels and seabirds while strengthening transparency and regulatory compliance.
Working with BirdLife International, the Common Oceans Tuna Project helped establish a Port-Based Outreach (PBO) programme in Fiji, which works directly with fishers to promote the adoption of seabird bycatch mitigation measures, and is now supporting the expansion of this approach to Indonesia. The project also supported CCSBT in strengthening electronic monitoring (EM) capacity.
Scientific research informs management decisions
The CCSBT assessment applied a Spatially Explicit Fisheries Risk Assessment (SEFRA) to quantify seabird bycatch risk associated with pelagic longline fisheries operating south of the equator from 2012 to 2023, integrating observer data from six CCSBT members and Brazil with spatio-temporal seabird density surfaces.
The assessment identified particularly high impacts on a number of albatross species, including Gibson's, Amsterdam, Tristan, Atlantic yellow-nosed and sooty albatrosses.
Stephanie Borelle, Pacific marine regional coordinator at BirdLife International, was involved in the CCSBT assessment and warned that more must be done to reduce bycatch.
"The implementation of conservation measures that are informed by science must be strengthened and members must enforce existing regulations in their fleets," she said.
