Critically endangered albatross thrown a lifeline by longline regulations

Just 130 Amsterdam Albatross left
Birds that will benefit include the Amsterdam albatross, whose entire global population has been reduced to 130 birds, all on Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Other beneficiaries include the Shy albatross, from Australia, and the Black-browed and Wandering albatrosses, which have important nesting populations on South Georgia - a UK Overseas Territory.

Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
A resolution from the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) this week requires all longline fishing vessels, fishing south of 30° South, to adopt a combination of at least two measures to reduce the bycatch of seabirds, which is pushing the world's 22 species of albatross closer toward extinction.

The resolution was announced at an IOTC meeting in Muscat, Oman. The resolution, which was announced at an IOTC meeting in Muscat, Oman, takes into account the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) International Plan of Action for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries (IPOA-Seabirds).

Conservation measures
Measures include requiring boats to set their hooks at night when birds are less active, using a bird streamer (tori) line to keep birds away from the hooks, adding weight to lines to make them sink more quickly out of reach of the albatrosses, and dyeing bait blue to make it less visible. The fisheries are given flexibility to choose which two measures from this list are most suitable to their fishery. The meeting agreed technical specifications for use of these measures.

The southern Indian Ocean is an albatross and threatened seabird hotspot. Once bycatch mitigation requirements have been put in place getting them actually practicised by the fishermen at sea is the next step.

The RSPB and BirdLife have funded the Albatross Task Force to employ staff to show fishermen first hand how to use the mitigation measures. They have recruited 14 ATF members who are working to protect albatrosses feeding in the waters of six countries - Brazil, Chile, South Africa, Namibia, Uruguay and Argentina.