In a recent study BirdLife International reports that Regional Fisheries Management Organisations are largely failing in their obligation to reduce seabird bycatch.
In a report released 7 March, BirdLife International concluded that Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) are largely failing in their duty to reduce albatross bycatch in longline fisheries.
Nineteen of the 21 species of albatross are threatened with global extinction due to longlining, with an estimated 100,000 albatrosses killed in fisheries per year. Pirate fishing is thought to be responsible for one third of seabird deaths by longlining. Because albatrosses are wide-ranging, their protection depends on cooperation among States.
The BirdLife study assessed RFMOs on 114 criteria covering their management of fish stocks, measures to reduce pirate fishing, efforts to reduce bycatch, and openness and transparency. BirdLife concluded that three of the assessed RFMOs – IOTC, ICCAT and CCSBT – had failed in their obligations to protect marine wildlife, while WCPFC (established in 2004) was too new to be fully assessed. Only CCAMLR had taken satisfactory steps to protect non-target species, such as weighting longlines to prevent birds taking the bait, and combat pirate fishing. In the Southern Ocean, where CCAMLR has jurisdiction, seabird bycatch in legal fisheries has dropped by 99% since 1997.
RFMOs are inter-governmental organisations with responsibility for managing high seas and migratory fish stocks. They also have a legal duty to conserve all non-target species associated with or affected by their fisheries, including seabirds, turtles, dolphins, sharks and non-target fish. These duties were outlined under such international agreements as the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (1995) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (1995).
The five RFMOs whose areas overlap most with albatross distribution are:
- The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC)
- The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
- The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT)
- The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)
- The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)