Global seabird bycatch in longline fisheries

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 14:91-106 (2011) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00347 REVIEW Global seabird bycatch in longline fisheries Orea R. J. Anderson1,*, Cleo J. Small1, John P. Croxall2, Euan K. Dunn1, Benedict J. Sullivan1, Oliver Yates3, Andrew Black1,4 1BirdLife International Global Seabird Programme, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL, UK 2BirdLife International Global Seabird Programme, BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge, CB3 0NA, UK 3BirdLife International Global Seabird Programme, Casilla 145, La Serena, Chile 4Present address: Fisheries Department, Falkland Islands Government, PO Box 598, Stanley, FIQ 1ZZ, Falkland Islands *Email: orea.anderson@rspb.org.uk ABSTRACT: Bycatch in longline fisheries is believed to govern the adverse conservation status of many seabird species, but no comprehensive global assessment has been undertaken. We reviewed the extent of seabird bycatch in all longline fisheries for which data are available. Despite the many inadequacies and assumptions contained therein, we estimated that at least 160000 (and potentially in excess of 320000) seabirds are killed annually. Most frequently caught are albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, with current levels of mortality liable to be unsustainable for some species and populations. Where realistic comparisons can be made, with data from the 1990s, there is evidence of substantially reduced bycatch in some key fisheries. Reductions stem from decreased fishing effort (especially in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the Southern Ocean), and greater and more effective use of technical mitigation measures, notably in demersal fisheries. However, bycatch problems in other fisheries have also emerged. Current concerns include those with previously unidentified bycatch problems (e.g. Spanish Gran Sol demersal fleet) and those where bycatch was identified, but where persistent data gaps prevented adequate assessments of the scale of the impact (e.g. Nordic demersal fisheries). Future assessments will only achieve greater precision when minimum standards of data collection, reporting and analysis are implemented by longline fishing fleets and the relevant regional fishery management organisations. Those fisheries in which bycatch has been substantially reduced demonstrate that the problem of seabird bycatch could be reduced to negligible proportions by enforced implementation of appropriate best-practice mitigation devices and techniques. KEY WORDS: Bycatch · Seabirds · Albatrosses · Global · Threats · Marine conservation Full text in pdf format Supplementary material NextCite this article as: Anderson ORJ, Small CJ, Croxall JP, Dunn EK, Sullivan BJ, Yates O, Black A (2011) Global seabird bycatch in longline fisheries. Endang Species Res 14:91-106. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00347Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 14, No. 2. Online publication date: June 08, 2011 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2011 Inter-Research.