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Seabird mortality and trawl fisheries

Over the last decade or so, we have come to recognize that where commercial longline fisheries overlap with susceptible species like albatrosses and petrels, the ensuing ‘incidental’ mortality of these species is a major factor contributing to the population declines of many such species (Weimerskirch, Brothers & Jouventin, 1997; Nel, Ryan & Watkins, 2002; Lewison & Crowder, 2003). Although the typical progression of response by relevant management authorities – from denial through data collection to practical action – has usually been slow, nevertheless there are now widespread attempts to implement solutions, both in coastal and high seas fisheries (Agnew et al., 2000; Løkkeborg, 2003; Robertson et al., 2006). While we cannot afford to be complacent, it is just possible that, in a decade or so, we might be able to start to observe the beginning of a restoration of some of the seabird populations most affected. It is, therefore, especially serious to receive such a clear indication of the nature and potential scale of seabird mortality associated with a trawl fishery as that provided by Watkins, Petersen & Ryan (2008) for the hake fishery in the Benguela Current off South Africa. The main concern is that this study [which develops similar work in the Falkland Islands (Sullivan, Reid & Bugoni, 2006a; Sullivan et al., 2006b)] might be just the tip of an iceberg, identifying a problem hitherto largely unrecognized, and that the global total mortality in all relevant and analogous trawl fisheries might be many times the 18 000 seabirds estimated killed annually in this fishery. In this commentary, I would like to (1) address certain potential difficulties suggested by the study; (2) briefly evaluate its main implications for seabirds; (3) indicate some important wider implications and priority actions, both in terms of policy and practice.