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title: "Progress towards a National Plan of Action - Seabirds by the European Commission"
---

# Progress towards a National Plan of Action - Seabirds by the European Commission

The European Commission has been assessing the evidence needed to develop an EU Plan of Action for reducing incidental bycatch of seabirds, originally with a view to a plan by 2009.  The initiative at that time applied only to fishing in European Union waters, not to the external waters where EU-flagged vessels contribute to the bycatch of globally threatened ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels.

 BirdLife International has presented the Commission with a 'shadow plan' reflecting its priorities based on the 2009 FAO Best Practice Technical Guidelines ([*FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No. 1, Suppl. 2*](http://www.fao.org/fishery/publications/technical-guidelines/en)).  The Commission then issued its own plan framework which was subjected to cost-benefit analysis by the UK-based Marine Resources Assessment Group ([MRAG](http://www.mrag.co.uk/)), drawing on questionnaire interviews with fishers in various European ports, but also extensively on BirdLife data.

 Following this [BirdLife Europe](http://www.birdlife.org/regional/europe/index.html) collected [23 000 signatures](http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2010/06/seabird-petition.html) (the majority gathered by the UK partner, [RSPB](http://www.rspb.org.uk/)) calling for an urgent and robust plan to address the seabird toll (estimated at 200 000 birds a year in EU waters alone) by EU fishing gears.  This toll includes around an estimated 100 000 birds drowned annually in Baltic Sea gill-nets, and an estimated 50 000 birds (including 40 000 Great Shearwaters *Puffinus gravis*) killed by the demersal longline fishery for hake on the Gran Sol grounds off south-west Ireland.

 ![](https://acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Shearwaters/Shearwaters/great_shearwater_john_graham.jpg "Great Shearwater, a trans-equatorial migrant in the Atlantic Ocean.  Photograph by John Graham")

 In June 2010 BirdLife presented EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki with the [petition](http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2010/06/seabird-petition.html) in the form of a photo-montage of a [Cory's Shearwater](http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3926) *Calonectris diomedea*, a common victim of long lines in the Mediterranean (and a potential candidate for listing within ACAP).  The image was a mosaic of 2300 seabird photos and fishing vessels, each ‘pixel' representing 10 signatures.

 The Commission'snow intends to produce a plan, addressing both EU and (significantly for ACAP-listed species) external waters by the end of 2011.  In parallel, the Commission is expected to present a proposal for reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy in July this year, embracing an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management which will cater for impacts on seabirds.

 For further details on progress with the European Union's NPOA-Seabirds visit:

 [http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/partners/consultations/seabirds/contributions/birdlife_international_en.pdf](http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/partners/consultations/seabirds/contributions/birdlife_international_en.pdf)

 [http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/partners/consultations/seabirds/index_en.htm](http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/partners/consultations/seabirds/index_en.htm)

 [http://www.acap.aq/2010-news-archive/the-european-union-launches-a-public-consultation-towards-a-seabird-bycatch-plan-of-action](https://acap.aq/2010-news-archive/the-european-union-launches-a-public-consultation-towards-a-seabird-bycatch-plan-of-action)

 With thanks to Euan Dunn, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for information.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 7 June 2011*