Albatross: Threats
Albatross in danger
Fact Box
• Fishing kills thousands of albatross every year
• The birds get hooked and drown
• Albatross face extinction if this doesn’t stop
What’s the problem?
Six of our albatross, including the royal albatross, are in trouble. Their numbers are falling fast. At this rate some species will become extinct within ten years.
Long-lines
These are the biggest human threat to albatrosses.
They are enormously long lines which stretch for kilometres and are baited with thousands of hooks.
Albatrosses are attracted to the squid or fish used as bait. As the baited hooks are thrown into the water the birds dive down and swallow them. Then they are dragged down on the long line and drowned.
Hundreds of boats put out long-lines in our southern oceans. They want to catch tuna but they catch birds as well. They have drowned 10,000 albatrosses and petrels within New Zealand’s 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. Around the world about 300,000 seabirds (including albatross and petrels) are dying on long-line hooks every year.
Trawling
Albatrosses also die when they scavenge for unwanted fish that’s thrown overboard. The birds collide and tangle in the ship’s cables.
Slow breeders
Albatrosses cannot breed fast enough to replace the birds that are dying. When parent birds die their chicks starve and die too. So the albatross populations just keep going down.
Ways to stop the killing
Long-lines don't need to kill seabirds. There are a number of ways to fish that would save the lives of many birds. Since February 2008, these methods have been made into rules. Long-line fishers must use two of the following three methods:
• Streamers - streamers or tori lines attached to the stern (or back) of long-lining boats scare the albatrosses from coming too close. The birds are frightened of the flapping streamers.
• Night fishing – albatrosses don’t fish much at night so night-time fishing prevents many deaths. This doesn’t work during the full moon.
• Weights – Albatrosses can only dive to a few metres. Heavy long-lines that sink quickly stop the birds from grabbing the bait, getting hooked and drowning.
Trawlers have to use streamers or scaring devices too.
This is a good start but it’s still not enough:
• Long-line fishing boats should use ALL three ways to reduce albatross deaths, not just two.
• They should stop throwing unwanted fish and guts overboard as this attracts birds.
• They shouldn’t fish in certain places at certain times of the year when we know that there are a lot of albatrosses there, collecting food for their chicks.
Take Action!
Some fish are caught by methods which often kill albatrosses. Don’t eat these fish! Check out Forest & Bird’s Best Fish Guide to find out which are the best fish to eat, that aren’t being over-fished or caught in ways that destroy sea life.
