Seabird Task Force 2014-2017 report released

In 2014 BirdLife International and its Partners in Lithuania (LOD) and Spain (SEO/BirdLife) launched the Seabird Task Force, with generous funding from Fondation Segré. The Task Force is a team of bycatch experts who worked alongside fishermen to understand the problem of seabird bycatch and work towards solutions (partnership for people and nature). The following is a detailed technical reporting describing our main findings.

The full report is available in high resolution here: Seabird Task Force Report 2014_2017

and lower resolution for slower connections here: Seabird Task Force Report 2014_2017_lowres

BirdLife’s press release can be found here http://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/pr/29-september-2017

Unique collaboration between experts and fishermen tackles seabird bycatch in Europe in valuable report

Across the world, seabirds are caught in many different kinds of fisheries and fishing gears, including in longlines and gillnets. These unintentional deaths, known as ‘bycatch’, are a major threat to seabirds; BirdLife estimates that 200,000 seabirds die annually in gillnets and longlines across Europe. The bycatch of these species and the poor management of the fisheries in relation to this issue are an infringement of the Birds Directive. In 2014, the Seabird Task Force (STF) was founded as a first of its kind in Europe, building a collaboration between bycatch experts and fishermen to tackle bycatch. After three years, the report comes at an opportune moment when the European Parliament will be deciding on October 10^th a position on how to manage EU fishing fleets to tackle bycatch.

In 2016, in an effort to regulate bycatch of seabirds, amongst many other impacts of the fishing fleet, the European commission proposed a new regulation to manage fisheries that would establish baseline technical solutions in some sea basins to tackle the incidentally catching of seabirds. Technical solutions already exist for some fishing gears and have been found to prevent or dramatically reduce the incidental catches of seabirds. However, implementing these solutions and monitoring their effectiveness has been very slow in the EU. Furthermore, research and development to identify solutions for gillnets has been minimal.

During the last 3 years, the Seabird Task Force has worked directly with fishermen in order to understand seabird bycatch, adapting known solutions to longline vessels in Spain and testing experimental solutions in gillnets in Lithuania.

Seabird Task Force Report 2014_2017. BirdLife InternationalIn Catalonia (Spain) the Seabird Task Force, together with SEO (BirdLife in Spain) focused their work on small and medium scale longline fishing fleets. Demersal longline fishing, where fish hooks are set and sink to the seafloor, targeting species like Hake and Seabream, are particularly risky for threatened seabird species such as the endemic and long-lived shearwater species. The STF estimates that each year in the peak bycatch season alone, 500 shearwaters (of which 300 are the critically endangered Balearic Shearwater) are killed in Catalonia. The birds dive for the baits attached to hooks and become hooked themselves, leading to their death or injury. The STF worked on-board with fishermen to first identify the most suitable mitigation measures and worked to assess and adapt these possible “solutions” together. Based on the monitoring data, a toolbox of technical solutions are needed for this fleet to reduce bycatch, which could include gear modifications to make the hooks sink faster, and fishing at night when birds are less active. Further testing of more experimental solutions, such as the vertical longline system is needed to further adapt to the Catalan fleet.

In Lithuania the STF, together with LOD (BirdLife in Lithuania), concentrated their work on developing experimental gillnet mitigation measures, since gillnets are estimated to catch 76,000 seabirds in the Baltic each year and technical, gear-based solutions do not currently exist for this fishing gear. Diving seabirds, such as seaducks, are not able to see the fine nylon of fishing nets, so they get caught in nets and drown. The Seabird Task Force tested high contrast panels in the hope that birds would perceive the net and avoid becoming entangled. The results suggest that around 1000-1500 seaducks are caught each year in Lithuania in the small scale fleet. Although the experimental tests showed that panels did not reduce bycatch of birds the results have been useful in informing the next phase of work which will involve testing aversive stimuli, including lights.

Implementing, monitoring and testing solutions is vital to ensure that mitigation can work. However, it is not enough to stop seabird bycatch. These measures need to be supported by a robust regulation that ensures effective management of the fleet, and enables implementation, monitoring and testing solutions.

Marguerite Tarzia, European Marine Conservation Officer, BirdLife Europe & Central Asia said: “Seabird bycatch is a major threat to the survival of seabirds; and this report helps demonstrate that the problem is really significant in Europe as well. The work carried out by the Seabird Task Force shows that by implementing, monitoring, and testing solutions on the boats together with fishermen, we can solve seabird bycatch while they continue fishing.”

Bruna Campos, EU Marine and Fisheries Policy Officer, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia said: ”It is clear from this report that we need better management of the EU’s fishing fleet and on the 10^th of October, if the European Parliament does not vote for baselines to tackle seabird bycatch, they will be giving a death sentence to many seabird species across Europe..”

The work carried out by the Seabird Task Force (STF) was made possible thanks to the generous support of Fondation Segré. ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Marguerite Tarzia, European Marine Conservation Officer

BirdLife Europe and Central Asia

Marguerite.Tarzia@birdlife.org

+44 (0)1223 747 587

Bruna Campos, EU Marine and Fisheries Policy Officer

BirdLife Europe and Central Asia

bruna.campos@birdlife.org

+32 (0) 478 88 6420

Notes:
[1] The Seabird task force report is available on the Seabird Task Force website https://seabirdbycatch.com

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RSPB- Global seabird appeal-

On behalf of the RSPB – click here to read the information directly on RSPB’s website:

Our appeals

Global Seabird appeal

Every year, hundreds of thousands of seabirds drown needlessly in fishing gear

About

A fishing catastrophe is driving seabirds to extinction. You can help save hundreds of thousands of seabirds from drowning needlessly every year.

Imagine diving into the sea, only to find yourself trapped beneath the surface, never to take another breath. That’s how hundreds of thousands of seabirds are dying every year, when they dive for food and get caught in fishing gear.

Known as ‘bycatch’, this is a global issue that has dragged the most iconic group of seabirds, the albatrosses, among others, into the depths of an extinction crisis. But you can help prevent these tragic losses, by donating to the RSPB’s Global Seabird Appeal today.

What we’ll be doing

Your donation is critical for two RSPB-led projects that protect seabirds from fishing gear.

Firstly, you can help to build on the Albatross Task Force’s (ATF) decade of progress, successfully protecting albatrosses in the Southern Hemisphere. Secondly, you can help the BirdLife Seabird Task Force – a joint RSPB-BirdLife International project – follow in the ATF’s footsteps as we seek to tackle a major emerging threat to the world’s seabirds – gillnet fisheries.

Nobody wants to see seabirds drowning. Especially the world’s fishermen. That’s why we’re collaborating with them, working shoulder-to-shoulder to overcome this global crisis.

Turn the tide with the Albatross Task Force

Interview with the RSPB’s Oli Yates

For 10 years, the Albatross Task Force (ATF) has been working in eight different countries, taking to the oceans in the name of scientific research, tackling 10 of the most deadly fisheries for albatrosses in the world.

Our dedicated instructors work alongside fishermen in notoriously difficult conditions, even battling the tempestuous South Atlantic Ocean. It’s a gruesome part of day-to-day life to see the corpse of a giant bird, with a wingspan of over three metres, being hauled on deck.

But, by working with fishermen who want to protect these wonderful birds, and by utilising many years of knowledge on how to solve this problem, the ATF have focused on three methods that are highly effective:

colourful streamers that scare away seabirds
weights to sink dangerous hooks out of reach of the birds
setting the lines at night when fewer seabirds are active.

These methods have been adopted in 7 out of 10 of our priority fisheries. It’s huge progress in a short period of time. But, still, albatrosses are fighting extinction. Your donation is crucial for the ATF’s next five years, when you can help to strengthen and broaden our work.

The birds affected

Black-browed albatross drowned in fishing gear

Gillnets – a catastrophe for seabirds

While albatrosses are needlessly drowning due to longline and trawl fisheries, gillnetting is an even more deadly form of fishing that, worldwide, is killing yet more seabirds.

Gillnets are made from a fine nylon that’s essentially invisible underwater. The fishermen only want to catch fish – but they’re also entangling over 400,000 seabirds a year, including guillemots, razorbills and long-tailed ducks.

You can help by supporting BirdLife International’s Seabird Task Force with your gift today. Your donation today can help us:

pinpoint the most dangerous fisheries
find ways to make gillnets more visible for seabirds
work with fishermen to find the best methods
put our research into practice worldwide.

As we’ve seen in the achievements of the ATF, this is truly a model of success. It means we can go to fisheries across the globe and show them that we can be trusted, that our methods work, and that our only agenda is to stop seabirds from dying.

But, for the inspiring work of our Task Forces to continue over the next five years, they desperately require funding. To save the lives of hundreds of thousands of seabirds, we need your help.

Donate now

Donating online is easy and ensures that more of your money is used for conservation.

Donate now

Or you can also donate by:

Telephone: Our Supporter Services team can also take donations over the phone. Call 01767 693 680, 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday

Post: We can accept donations by cheque too. Please make cheques payable to The RSPB and send them to: Global Seabird appeal, The RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL

Why we need your help

More than 100,000 albatrosses still die in fishing gear each year, but the Albatross Task Force has developed methods to stop this. Meantime, gillnets entangle over 400,000 seabirds a year, but fishermen are desperate for a solution to these unnecessary deaths. Please help to get our sealife off the hook.

£10	could pay towards equipment for a Task Force instructor
£25	could pay towards sending a Task Force instructor to sea for a day
£50	could pay towards our vital advocacy work.

Donate today

Global Seabird appeal

A fishing catastrophe is driving seabirds to extinction. You can help save hundreds of thousands of seabirds from drowning needlessly every year.

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International workshop on Marine Important Bird Areas in the Mediterranean

An international workshop on Marine Important Bird Areas in Malta and the Mediterranean will be held between the 23rd – 25th November 2015 by the LIFE+ Malta Seabird Project and BirdLife International. The workshop will be a key opportunity to gather knowledge and experience on protecting seabirds across national boundaries and international waters of the Mediterranean as well as set the way forward for international collaborations in protecting our common seabird heritage.

Within the Mediterranean seabirds face threats both on land and at sea, such as overfishing, by-catch, invasive predators, habitat destruction from poor planning and marine pollution. However only 4% of the Mediterranean is currently protected through the EU Natura 2000 network in Europe and the Barcelona Convention’s Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance.

At a regional scale there are still many important gaps to fill in the protected area network for seabirds, particularly for sites at sea. The meeting will enable scientists, nature conservationists and policy makers to further coordinate efforts for seabird protection at a regional scale through capacity building and the sharing of specialist knowledge.

The meeting will start with the presentation of a draft inventory of Marine Important Bird Areas for seabirds in Maltese and international waters identified under the LIFE+ Malta Seabird Project. This will be followed by sessions on knowledge sharing and gap analysis for the entire Mediterranean region, identifying sites within and beyond national jurisdiction, priority areas and policy mechanisms from across the Mediterranean.

Find out more, including to download the registration form, here.

Reblog: originally posted in LIFE+ Malta Seabird Project.

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