From supporting new technologies to government policies, we’re working to minimize the impacts of fisheries on birds, often in partnership with many of our Seabirds Program partners. We thank them all for their collaboration!
Seafood labeling, such as the Marine Stewardship Certification seal, is useful in helping consumers select sustainably harvested seafood. However, these programs do not always include avoidance of seabird bycatch as criteria for certification.
We are working with organizations such as Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to incorporate seabird bycatch information in evaluations of non-certified fisheries.
We’ve developed a free resources including a web-based mapping and information tool and a guide to Seabird Bycatch Solutions to help seafood sustainability assessors and managers learn how to identify and address seabird bycatch problems in their fisheries.
Download Seabird Bycatch Guide: Large File (100 MB), Small File (25 MB)
See new: Seabird Maps and Information for Fisheries Tool
See reports on Marine Stewardship Certification.
Solving the problems posed by fisheries to birds requires coordinated efforts by governments, scientists, fishermen, and NGOs. For this reason, we encourage the United States to ratify the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), the foremost international agreement bringing countries together to reduce threats to these birds.
Read more about ACAP.
Simple and inexpensive changes in fishing practices can protect the world’s albatrosses and petrels from severe population declines and eventual extinction. We are working to bring about such improvements, including our work with partners in Ecuador and Peru to reduce bycatch in artisanal longline and gillnet fisheries.
We are also partnering with Birdlife International to seek solutions to one of the toughest seabird bycatch problems, bycatch in gillnets, through technical workshops and collaborating on trials of bycatch reduction methods.
Only by understanding the scope of the bycatch program can we hope to solve it. ABC has published a comprehensive report, “Death on the High Seas,” that details the extent of seabird bycatch worldwide and how it can best be solved.
