STOP Bycatch: fundraising campaign to prevent death of seabirds in fishing gear

On World Oceans Day, the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA/BirdLife Portugal) launches Stop Bycatch, a fundraising campaign to prevent the incidental capture of seabirds in fishing gear – one of the biggest threats to the world’s most endangered bird group.

Every year, an estimated 200 thousand seabirds – such as gannets, shearwaters and razorbills – die in European waters, accidentally caught in fishing nets, lines and hooks. For seabirds, this means population losses and threat of extinction, while for fishing crews it means damaged gear, lost bait and fish, as well as extra time spent removing trapped birds.

The Stop Bycatch campaign aims to support the deployment of measures such as ‘scarybird’ kites, a kind of kite shaped like a bird of prey, which seabirds mistake for a predator. When they see the ‘scarybird’ kite, seabirds keep their distance, safeguarding species and fishing crews’ catch. This and other measures were tested by conservationists working with fishing communities in SPEA’s MedAves Pesca project, which received the European Commission’s Natura 2000 Award last month. Of the various measures the team tested, the ‘scarybird’ kite proved to be effective at reducing seabird bycatch, and liked by fishermen for its ease of deployment and for not impacting their fish haul.

“We know the scarybird works, and that fishermen like this solution. Now we want to get it to more and more fishermen, throughout Portugal and beyond,” says Domingos Leitão, Executive Director of SPEA. “With everybody’s help, we can save thousands of seabirds.”

As well as deploying the ‘scarybird’ in more fishing vessels, SPEA also aims to continue to test other measures and continue to work with fishing communities to raise awareness of this issue and find the best solutions.

Anyone interested in making a donation to the Stop Bycatch campaign, which aims to raise 15 thousand euros for this work, can do so as of today by visiting www.stopbycatch.spea.pt.

As part of the campaign, SPEA is also encouraging people to share the Stop Bycatch animation video, which aims to raise awareness of the threat of seabird bycatch.