Issue Brief from the Ornithological Council

Volume 1
Number 4: 3d edition, March 1999

CATCHING BIRDS INSTEAD OF FISH: The Effects of Longline Fishing on Seabirds

THE ISSUE

Longline fishing by commercial vessels is responsible for the deaths of thousands of seabirds annually, including the endangered Short-tailed Albatross. Without regulatory protection and monitoring programs, other bird species may become endangered or threatened. It is estimated that the commercial fishing industry is losing 1% or more of its catch owing to hooked birds and stolen bait, costing the industry about $5 million a year. Fisheries and conservation organizations and government agencies all want to reduce bird bycatch.

POLICY ISSUES

Measures that have been instituted to solve the problem of seabird bycatch:

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) adopted a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries in 1995 that states that management procedures should be taken to minimize fisheries bycatch of non-target and non-fish species.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) passed a resolution in October 1996 calling for measures to reduce seabird catch by longline fisheries.
Regulations have been instituted in the Alaska groundfish and halibut fisheries and in the southern oceans to help decrease bycatch. However, there are still shortcomings in U.S. Fisheries Management. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is considering requiring several measures to further reduce seabird bycatch and conservationists are pressing for avoidance measures in Hawaii.
Educational materials with suggested bird avoidance techniques have been distributed to fishermen in Alaska and Hawaii and in the southern oceans.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) worked with the FAO to organize an FAO Technical Consultation on the issue of seabird bycatch in longline fisheries. As a result of the Consultation, which took place in October 1998, member nations have agreed upon an international accord designed to greatly reduce or eliminate the killing of seabirds on hooks set by longline vessels. This agreement, which was ratified by the FAO's Committee on Fisheries in February 1999, calls for fishing nations to develop and implement their own national Plans of Action and to encourage regional fisheries organizations to do likewise. After it is ratified by the full FAO, it will go into effect. The agreement contains no enforcement mechanisms or compliance incentives; compliance by the signatories is entirely voluntary.
In March 1999, the jurisdiction of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was extended to 200 miles at sea (the Exclusive Economic Zone). Previously, this law, which prohibits the killing of migratory birds, was only extended to the U.S. territorial limits (12 miles at sea), but most longline fishing takes place outside those limits.

Measures that can further help reduce bycatch:

Data on the impact of the seabird bycatch problem worldwide are lacking. To assess this impact, fishing vessels must carry observers specifically to collect data on seabird bycatch. Currently, observers on fishing vessels have too many other duties to spend time observing seabird bycatch. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) should institute a special program of observers specifically for observing seabird bycatch, seabird behavior around fishing vessels, and the effectiveness of deterrent devices. NMFS, in consultation with FWS, should develop a training program for these observers and an appropriately-designed study to determine the effective of several mitigation devices, including Tori (streamer) lines, buoy bags, and line-weighting.
Funding is needed for development of bird avoidance techniques, observer training programs, and data analysis.
Effective low cost measures that will not be an economic hardship for fishermen should be developed.

BACKGROUND

During long-line fishing, lines up to 80 miles long with over 30,000 baited hooks are set on lines behind the fishing vessel. Seabirds see the bait near the surface as lines are deployed. The birds dive on the bait, becoming hooked or stealing the bait. Tens of thousands are hooked and die each year. There are over 4,000 ground fish vessels fishing the waters around Alaska. Hawaii had fewer than 10 commercial fishing vessels in its waters prior to 1990 and now has over 140. In the southern oceans an estimated 500-100 million hooks are set annually. Seabirds are only one of several unintended species caught (sea turtles, marine mammals, sharks and non-target fish are also caught). Many countries practice long-line fishing: the most predominant being Japan, China, U.S., Norway, Argentina, Taiwan, Brazil, Spain, Chile and Uruguay.

Birds are hooked or steal bait mainly when lines are being set and the bait is near the surface. Once a bird is hooked, the line sinks much more slowly owing to the buoyancy of the bird. This increases the risk of other birds becoming hooked. A few simple measures have been shown to help reduce seabird bycatch. Unfrozen bait sinks faster, thus making it available to the birds for a shorter period of time. Weighted lines help the bait sink faster. Trailing a streamer line in the air behind a vessel interferes with the birds' diving on bait. But there are no data on the effectiveness of these or other proposed measures and research is badly needed.

EFFECTS OF LONGLINING ON SEABIRDS

In each of the last 3 years an estimated 2,000 Laysan Albatross and 2,000 Black-footed Albatross were killed in the waters around Hawaii. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service estimate that in the Bering Sea/Gulf of Alaska area 10,000 birds are killed annually. Short- tailed Albatross, an endangered species, are caught in the waters off Alaska and have been seen around Hawaii. In the southern oceans, it is estimated that over 40,000 albatross of several species are killed annually. Populations of Wandering Albatross, a species of special concern, are estimated to be declining by 10% annually owing to longline fishing. Other birds killed include petrels, skuas, gulls, kittiwakes, fulmars, shearwaters, and penguins.

We do not have good information on how many birds are caught in most areas where longline fishing occurs, thus we cannot truly asses the extent of the problem. Current estimates for seabird mortality are conservative. Even on boats where the hooked birds are counted as lines are hauled in estimates are low because sharks eat the birds and some are torn off the hooks.

CURRENT STATUS

Preliminary experimentation with different fishing techniques and gear modifications has shown that seabird bycatch can be reduced by using some inexpensive techniques, but the effectiveness of these techniques has not been evaluated. Further research and experimentation is needed on methods to avoid bycatch, particularly inexpensive methods that will not be a hardship for fishermen to implement. Then data should be collected on the effectiveness of methods.

There are few observers on longline vessels taking data (4% of vessels in Hawaii and 30% in Alaska), and the data taken are not designed to monitor seabird bycatch. For instance, observer duties do not include watching the setting of lines when most birds are caught. Also, observers have many duties and do not have the time to collect data on seabird bycatch. A new program of monitoring, which makes monitoring bird bycatch a priority, needs to be designed and implemented. More vessels need to have observers, observers need training in how to recognize seabird species, and the data collected need to be more comprehensive. To accomplish this, funding is needed.

References:

Brothers, N. et al. 1995. The influence of bait quality on the sink rate used in the Japanese longline tuna fishing industry: an experimental approach. CCAMLR Science 2: 123-129.

Gould, P. J. 1995. Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses: trophic dynamics and fisheries interactions. Abstract, First Intl. albatross conference, CSIRO, Hobart, Australia.

Johnson, D. H. et al. 1993. Incidental catch of marine birds in the north Pacific high seas driftnet fisheries in 1990. Intl. N. Pacific Fisheries Comm. Bull. 53: 473-483.

Wohl, K. D. et al. 1995. Incidental mortality of seabirds in selected commercial fisheries in Alaska. Circumpolar seabird working group. Conservation of Arctic flora and fauna, & CAFF Intl. Secretariat. Ottawa, Canada.

Citation: Ornithological Council 1997. Catching birds instead of fish: the effects of longline fishing on seabirds. Bird Issue Brief Vol.1, No.4. Washington, D.C.

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