Thousands of albatrosses still killed by longline fisheries
New analysis estimates thousands of endangered albatrosses are killed each year by Southern Hemisphere longline fisheries
Over 30,000 seabirds are estimated to die annually in Southern Hemisphere longline fisheries. This includes 438 Gibson’s albatrosses - as much as 72% of the species annual population growth - according to a major new analysis of 10 billion hooks, that reveals the species and regions most at risk.
An international team working through the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) combined fishing, seabird distribution and bycatch data from Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa and Taiwan to estimate annual seabird deaths. The analysis is the strongest evidence to date on the extent and scale of seabird bycatch in longline fisheries.
The results show that thousands of albatrosses are estimated to die each year in Southern Hemisphere longline fisheries. New Zealand white-capped albatrosses suffered the highest estimated mortality, at least 3,445 deaths annually, followed by black-browed albatrosses at least 2,936. While fewer Gibson’s albatrosses are estimated to be killed - around 438 each year - the impact on this much smaller population is particularly severe, potentially reducing the annual species growth rate to a quarter of what it would be without bycatch. Critically endangered Tristan albatross and endangered Amsterdam and sooty albatrosses were also identified among the species facing the greatest risk.
Dr Stephanie Borrelle, Pacific Marine Regional Coordinator at BirdLife International, says:
"The scientific evidence that longline fisheries are driving population declines in albatrosses and petrels is unequivocal. This latest risk assessment adds to decades of proof: we know how to stop these deaths – the tools exist and are proven. The only thing standing between these birds and survival is political will. Without it, we are choosing to watch their extinction in real time, with our eyes wide open."
The analysis also reveals clear hotspots where seabird deaths are concentrated. The Tasman Sea emerged as a major hotspot for albatross mortality, with areas of high mortality also identified in the south-eastern Indian Ocean and south-eastern Atlantic. For species like white-chinned, grey and black petrels, mortality was concentrated around South Africa and Namibia, as well as in the south-eastern Pacific. The white-chinned petrel suffered particularly high estimated mortality, with more than 3,500 deaths annually.
The scale of the deaths highlights significant and persistent seabird mortality in areas where fishing vessels are required to use mitigation to prevent seabirds becoming hooked or entangled. The results reinforce longstanding concerns that these measures are not being effectively implemented and enforced by Members of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs), which regulate much of the fishing areas covered by the assessment.
The analysis provides a strong foundation for RFMOs to protect some of the world’s most threatened albatrosses and petrels with better management measures. RFMO Members know the scale of bycatch in their fisheries, the places where bycatch happens, and have the tools to solve the problem.
Oli Yates, Head of BirdLife International Marine Programme at RSPB says:
“Initiatives like the Albatross Task Force, a global partnership between BirdLife International and the RSPB, have demonstrated the effectiveness of seabird saving measures like bird-scaring lines, night setting, and line weighting. When used in Namibia’s longline fishery, these measures were proven to reduce seabird mortality by 98%, without affecting fish catch. This highlights the massive gulf between what is possible, and the grim reality of seabird bycatch in the Southern Hemisphere. We know what the solutions are, and Members of RMFOs are currently failing in their responsibilities to enforce them. The lack of progress in the past decade is unacceptable.”
Using a spatial risk-assessment model between 2012 and 2023, they scientists estimated how frequently different seabirds encounter fishing vessels, how likely those encounters are to result in ‘capture’, and the resulting annual mortality for each species, based on 10 billion hooks of fishing effort, 211 million observed hooks, and 9,883 observed seabird captures. The final numbers are conservative.
15 Oct 2026
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