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The Global Seabird Programme of BirdLife International has this month produced a set of 14 fact-sheets (click here) designed to describe the range of potential mitigation measures available to reduce seabird bycatch in both longline and trawl fisheries.  The fact-sheets, which have also been printed on glossy paper and filed loose-leaf within a card folder, assess the effectiveness of each measure, highlight their limitations and strengths, and make best-practice recommendations for their effective adoption.  They are designed to help decision-makers choose the most appropriate measures for their longline (both pelagic and demersal) and trawl fisheries.

Mitigation measures covered include streamer (bird-scaring) lines, line weighting, night setting, underwater setting chutes, side-setting, using blue-dyed bait, and reducing warp strikes and net entanglements.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 August 2009