RSPB Scotland are urging the Scottish Government to take vital action to protect vulnerable seabirds from being caught and killed by fishing gear.
The long overdue Bycatch Mitigation Initiative, jointly published by the UK and devolved governments, outlines the damaging impact of bycatch on marine wildlife, including seabirds, in UK waters. However it fails to provide the detail of commitment and action needed to solve what is one of the greatest and yet preventable threats facing vulnerable seabirds.
Despite including welcome language and some valuable actions that governments have said ‘could’ be taken, the Initiative ultimately fails to outline any timebound, specific or measurable actions that governments commit to implementing, or specify how they will tackle known problems in high-risk fleets and effectively monitor the issue.
Helen McLachlan, Head of Marine Policy for RSPB Scotland said, “Sadly this announcement is a lost opportunity to set out a clear suite of actions that will be taken to protect seabirds from preventable and unnecessary deaths drowning on the end of fishing hooks and in nets. Setting out and delivering a clear plan for supporting the fishing industry in mitigating and monitoring bycatch could make an instant difference to our globally important seabird colonies.
The Scottish Government and other stakeholders have been aware of the potential scale of the problem for a number of years and each year that passes with no mitigation means thousands more of our beautiful seabirds are at risk of being killed. Yet, this new plan still takes us no further forward in tackling this solvable issue. Continued inaction on bycatch completely undermines Scotland’s special responsibility to protect and recover its internationally significant seabird populations. And this comes at a time when they are under further devastating pressure from Avian influenza which is killing tens of thousands of birds across Scottish sea areas.”
The RSPB and BirdLife International have been at the forefront of collaborative efforts to address bycatch for almost a decade. This work has resulted in tangible success stories elsewhere around the globe which demonstrate that bycatch can be virtually stopped when action is championed by industry and supported by regulators. Bycatch has plummeted by over 95% in places like Namibia and South Africa, thanks to collaboration between the Albatross Task Force and fishers.
Seabirds have suffered catastrophic declines across Scotland in recent decades and they continue to face an uncertain future. A 2021 report by NatureScot highlighted that the number of breeding seabirds in Scotland, the UK’s stronghold, has fallen dramatically by 49% since the 1980s. Concerns for our seabird’s future have been further exacerbated by the devastating impact of the unprecedented outbreak of Avian Influenza.
While there are numerous causes attributed to these trends, such as climate change and a decline in food sources, bycatch has been identified as a key contributing factor. A 2020 report by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) estimated that somewhere between 2,200 – 9,500 fulmars and 1,800 – 3,300 guillemots are unintentionally killed by UK-registered fishing vessels in UK waters each year. With bycatch records on this scale from current low levels of monitoring, RSPB Scotland are deeply concerned that the policy designed to address the problem does not have direct ties to any action on the water and does not outline how governments will meet their obligations to tackle known issues. They are calling on the Scottish Government to address the devastating yet avoidable issue of seabird bycatch through the introduction of effective monitoring at sea, setting ambitious, timebound targets and supporting the fishing industry to develop and implement best practice mitigation measures.
Bycatch Programme Manager for BirdLife International, Rory Crawford said, “We welcome the fact that the Bycatch Mitigation Initiative has finally been published, but we need to see real action being taken urgently if we are to save our seabirds. Wildlife bycatch is a solvable problem and the Scottish Government must recognise this as a priority issue and deliver the necessary, world leading actions needed to end bycatch.
Every year thousands of threatened seabirds are caught on the hooks of vessels fishing in Scottish waters. This has to stop. The RSPB have worked internationally with industry to show that cheap and simple measures can be used to save seabirds and keep fishers fishing, but our struggling seabirds cannot afford further delays. We are urging the Scottish Government to use the information they have at their fingertips to tackle seabird bycatch once and for all in Scottish waters”
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