New study shows the real scale of seabird bycatch in European waters.
A new scientific paper co-authored by BirdLife and Partners finds that nearly 200,000 seabirds die annually as bycatch in European waters – including 150,000 in EU waters. Among these, six seabird species threatened by extinction in the region are frequently recorded as bycatch. Whilst shocking, these figures paint only a partial picture. The true scale of this tragic loss could be much higher. In this study, bycatch estimates were nonexistent for more than a third of the coastal states studied, and available estimates rarely included the entirety of a country’s fishing fleet.
Seabirds are one of the most threatened groups of birds in Europe with more than a third of the species suffering from population declines. They face a range of threats at their terrestrial breeding colonies (e.g., invasive species, disturbance, habitat loss) and at sea (e.g., overfishing, renewable energy infrastructure). Climate change is adding additional pressure throughout their lifecycle. But bycatch is not only one of the biggest threats to seabirds it is also one of the most manageable. In many cases, relatively simple changes to fishing practices or modifications to fishing gear can significantly reduce the number of birds that end up as bycatch in fishing gear. We hope this review can help researchers, fisheries managers, Governments and many other relevant marine stakeholders to understand the scale of seabird bycatch in Europe. The numbers are alarming and confirm seabird bycatch is a top threat to the migratory seabirds that breed or visit European waters. The good news is that addressing seabird bycatch is possible, and systematic monitoring and effective implementation of mitigation methods have proved to be very effective to reduce this threat,” says Iván Ramírez, co-author of the report, about the importance of the paper.
The highest levels of seabird bycatch are reported in gillnets in the Baltic Sea and the Northeast Atlantic (>95,000 birds/year) and longlines in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean (>80,000 birds/year). Nearly 36,000 seabirds/year are estimated to be bycaught by the Gran Sol longline fishery for hake that operates off the coast of Scotland down to southwest Ireland. The fishery was identified as problematic back in 2011.
Posted On: 03/07/2024
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