FEATURE

Anyone with an eye on the in South African fisheries pops into your head: a length like guillemots, penguins, work of BirdLife’s Marine by 99%, and have got the of net, usually made of fine cormorants and seaducks. Programme will know that Namibian government on nylon, that sits in the water Purely in terms of numbers, we have made great strides board to implement the same column and catches fish around gillnets are responsible for in reducing the accidental measures in the world’s worst the gills when they swim into more mortalities than longline capture (bycatch) of seabirds, fishery for longline and trawl it. This nylon is effectively and trawl fisheries combined particularly highly threatened bycatch. invisible underwater—great for (estimated to kill 300,000 birds albatross species, in longline The impact of fisheries on catching fish, but unfortunately per year). and trawl fisheries. We work seabirds does not start and also quite effective at catching It is not just the marine directly with fishermen on end with longlines and trawls, birds, turtles, marine mammals environment where the use vessels through the Albatross however. A lesser-known but and other non-target catch. of gillnets is having an effect. Task Force and we are pushing immense threat is scattered In the first global review Titicaca Grebe Rollandia to make high seas fisheries across the world’s coasts and of seabird bycatch in gillnets, microptera was a common seabird-friendly through river estuaries. In recent years, we estimated that 400,000 species a couple of decades the Regional Fisheries evidence has been mounting of seabirds are killed in gillnet ago, but the unregulated use of Management Organisations. substantial bycatch in gillnet fisheries every year, and this monofilament gillnets by local Most recently, the team fisheries. In some ways, gillnets was a conservative estimate. fisherman on Lake Titicaca in South Africa have been are ‘the classic’ fishing gear—if Gillnets mainly affect species on the Peru-Bolivia border awarded for techniques that you hear the words ‘fishing that dive to catch prey, has caused such rapid declines have reduced albatross bycatch net’, a gillnet is probably what including familiar birds that the species is now on the

22 WorldBirdwatch Atlantic played a role in driving Common Murre (Common The Gillnet Problem Key Facts Guillemot) Uria aalge towards n Gillnets are invisible to birds and animals extinction locally as a breeding n 400,000 seabirds a year killed species, and the same could n In terms of pure numbers: more birds affected than by be happening for species such trawling or longlining as Razorbill Alca torda and n Different group of birds affected too, plus many marine Common Eider Somateria mammals and reptiles mollissima elsewhere. n Large number of small gillnet fishing vessels that are Importantly though, we have difficult to manage as a whole identified the problem—now we n We are saving threatened species and keeping common need to take on the challenge of birds common finding solutions to keep these common birds common. and respond to information by GAP 2) with a UK gillnet “We need to do all we can from their environment; and fisherman to the Puget Sound to build resilience in these it is the ‘response’ we are in the USA, where some of populations early, particularly after—how birds and other the only published work on in the face of unknown impacts non-target species avoid seabird bycatch mitigation in from oceanographic change”, gillnets. With a conservation gillnets was carried out. Here, says Rory Crawford, Senior (rather than a sensory ecology) fishermen utilise a strip of Policy Officer, BirdLife Marine audience in mind, Dr Martin high-visibility meshes at the top Programme. undertook a literature review of their driftnets to reduce the However unlike for trawl examining the fundamentals of bycatch of auks. and longline fisheries, there vision—how light behaves in Putting this into practice, is not a suite of best practice water, the physical constraints we are already collaborating mitigation measures available on underwater sight, and the with fishermen to tackle to reduce the impact of gillnets. trade-offs involved for animals the problem. At the end of The difficulty in solving this with eyes that are capable of last year, we launched the problem is confounded by seeing in terrestrial and aquatic Seabird Task Force in Europe, the nature of many gillnet contexts. exporting the successful fisheries: they are often low- “We can conclude that birds Albatross Task Force model to capital small-scale fisheries do not see gillnets—they forage fisheries in Spain and Lithuania that are poorly monitored and in low light levels, unable to see with funding from Fondation regulated, with large numbers fine detail”, said Rory. Segré. The Lithuanian of small vessels operating This bird’s-eye perspective Ornithological Society (LOD across broad areas. It will will inform the types of BirdLife Partner) have already never be possible to ensure a measures we can employ to built strong links with gillnet A Steller’s Eider drowned alert seabirds and other non- fishermen and have started to in a gillnet off Lithuania trained fisheries observer is (Markus Vetemaa) present on every vessel. So how target species to the presence collect bycatch data. can we tackle a problem when of nets without impacting the Our fishing observer in there are no solutions currently target catch, and could include Lithuania has been distributing known and a highly dispersed checkerboard panels or lights a diving-bird identification stakeholder community? on nets. We have also been on guide to fishermen and fishing edge of extinction. Since 1991, BirdLife is tackling this a fact-finding mission (funded associations, developed by the use of gillnets has been challenge head-on through our prohibited within international proven combination of local Author Rory Crawford (right) on a gillnet fact-finding mission in the waters. Gillnet fisheries are, and scientific insight, action Puget Sound (Katrina Borrow) however, still permitted to and advocacy. operate within 200 nautical First, we’ve started miles (370 km) of the coast— by taking it back to the within a State’s Exclusive fundamentals: in order to Economic Zone (EEZ), understand why a penguin meaning the BirdLife Marine (for example) gets caught in Programme is starting a new a gillnet, we need to see and line of work to stop these areas think like a penguin. becoming nylon necropolises Rory Crawford got in touch for marine life. with Dr Graham Martin, a It is harrowing to think that sensory ecologist, to build species we may see regularly a picture of how birds and and may take for granted have other marine species see the been killed under the radar. underwater world. Sensory For example, the introduction ecology is the study of how of synthetic nets in the Iberian organisms acquire, process,

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the need to better understand the interactions of turtles, mammals and birds with nets so that we can better design solutions to the problem. Although this is difficult underwater, the continuing advance in camera technology offers some hope. We are also looking into locations where threats to seabirds, marine mammals and turtles most overlap. The scale of the challenge is clearly major—a conservative estimate of 400,000 birds killed yearly—and the long, slow grind of testing and improving measures is ahead of us. For some threatened species, it may even be necessary to take more immediate action in the short-term to reduce the impact of gillnets on seabird populations. Fishermen pulling in gillnets off the coast of Chile (CG Suazo) “This is a challenge we must not shy away from”, said LOD for the Seabird Task together gillnet fishermen workshop to find technical Rory. “BirdLife has achieved Force. with a combined experience solutions to the gillnet bycatch huge success in longline and “Fishermen are already of over 100 years, bycatch problem. trawl fisheries by working identifying dead birds in specialists, sensory ecology The workshop proposed with fishermen—the time is their nets with the waterproof specialists, conservationists projects on both sides of ripe to bring this experience guide”, said Marguerite Tarzia, and government, the workshop the north Atlantic, in the to bear in gillnet fisheries. By BirdLife European Marine focussed on the development Baltic Sea and in the Pacific collaborating with gillnetters, Conservation Officer. “The of projects to test mitigation Ocean to bolster existing I am convinced we can reduce new bycatch data is starting to measures aimed at reducing experimentation. Among seabird bycatch”. trickle in, and it’s great news the bycatch of birds, marine many additional conclusions WB that the Lithuanian fishermen mammals and sea turtles. This of the workshop, a key aspect by Rory Crawford are on-board at this early was the first ever cross-taxa agreed by all participants was & Shaun Hurrell stage; it’s sparking interest in Latvia too.” BirdLife’s work on gillnet bycatch should lead to a better future for Steller’s Eider (Markus Varesuvo) This autumn we hope to be trialling mitigation ideas on vessels to see if we can reduce bycatch, particularly of threatened Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca and Long- tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis. The Albatross Task Force are in on the act too, testing checkerboard panels to see if they can reduce seabird bycatch in gillnets in the south of Chile. To help drive forward research into reducing gillnet bycatch, we ran a workshop in the USA with the American Bird Conservancy in January 2015, made possible by the David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. Bringing

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