Longline losses

Forest and Bird, Volume 22, Issue 2, 1 May 1991, Page 9

Longline losses

S OME SPECIES OF ALBATROSS and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal are facing a serious threat from longline fishers targetting broadbill swordfish around the north-west Hawaiian archipelago. Each day, a boat will set and retrieve one line up to 55 km long with 450-700 hooks. Birds and seals swallow the baited hooks and are injured or drowned. Some fishers have taken extreme measures to keep birds away from baits, including shooting as many birds as they can, injuring one bird and leaving it

flapping in the water to attract other birds to it while the boat moves on, and throwing baits containing large pieces of plastic or corrosive caustic chemicals to birds to kill or scare them. It is alleged that more than 1000 albatrosses have been slaughtered in one day by the longliners. Mutilated albatrosses have landed on colonies one with its beak missing. In nine days during January this year, eight monk seals were found with injuries associated with longline fishery and those are only the ones that survived to make it onshore. There are only 1200 Hawaiian monk seals left. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council meeting wants to see the fishery closed within 30 km of the islands because of the wildlife toll. Source: Honolulu Advertiser