Easing The
Collateral Damage Fisheries Inflict on Seabirds
A little
more than a decade ago, thousands of seabirds — including the magnificent
wandering albatross, with the longest wingspan of any bird in the world —
perished annually in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica when they dove
for baited hooks set by longline fishing boats. Impaled on the hooks, the birds
were dragged underwater and drowned.
But in
recent years, increased regulations, stricter enforcement, and innovative gear
— including the adoption of technologies that weigh down baited hooks well
below the surface or scare seabirds away from longlines — have had a dramatic
impact on so-called seabird bycatch.