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title: "All tied up: over half of the 31 ACAP-listed seabird species have been entangled by plastics"
---

# All tied up: over half of the 31 ACAP-listed seabird species have been entangled by plastics

Peter Ryan ([FitzPatrick Institute](http://www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za/), University of Cape Town, South Africa) has published in the [*Marine Pollution Bulletin*](https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/marine-pollution-bulletin) on avian entanglements from discarded materials.  Thirty-six per cent of seabird species have been recorded entangled by plastic litter, mainly derived from fishing.  55% (17 of 31) of the ACAP-listed species have been reported entangled, including 12 albatross species and both giant petrels *Macronectes*.  Two of the five *Procellaria* petrels have been so reported.

 The paper’s abstract follows:

 “Entanglement of animals is one of the main environmental impacts of waste plastic. A 2015 review of entanglement records found that the proportion of affected seabirds increased from 16% of species to 25% over the last two decades. However, this was restricted to published records; Google Images and other web-based sources indicate that at least 147 seabird species (36%), as well as 69 freshwater birds (10%) and 49 landbirds (0.5%) from 53 families have been entangled in plastic or other synthetic materials. Fishing gear is responsible for entangling most species (83%), although it is often difficult to differentiate entanglement from bycatch on active gear. Mitigation measures include banning high-risk applications where there are alternatives (e.g. six-pack rings), discouraging the use of high-risk items (e.g. balloons on strings, ‘manja’ kites), and encouraging fishers to not discard waste fishing gear by providing specific receptacles and associated educational signage in fishing areas.”

 ![](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/B/Black_footed/Black-footed Albatross entangled  balloon Beachcombers.jpg) 

 A beached Black-footed Albatross *Phoebastria nigripes* carcass found entangled by a balloon string ([click here](https://www.acap.aq/en/news/news-archive/60-2013-news-archive/1441-not-letting-your-party-balloon-go-it-s-not-just-ingested-plastic-that-is-killing-albatrosses-petrels-and-shearwaters?highlight=WyJiYWxsb29ucyJd))

 **Reference:**

 Ryan, P.G. 2018.  Entanglement of birds in plastics and other synthetic materials.  * [Marine Pollution Bulletin](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X18304624?via%3Dihub)*[doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.06.057](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X18304624?via%3Dihub). (Species information is in a supplementary table).

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 23 July 2018*