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title: "Are seabirds the key to halting illegal fishing?"
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# Are seabirds the key to halting illegal fishing?

![Albatros dAmsterdam Romain Buenadicha 2](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Albatrosses/A/Amsterdam/Albatros_dAmsterdam_Romain_Buenadicha_2.jpg)*Displaying Amsterdam Albatrosses; photograph by Romain Buenadicha  
In a study by Henri Weimerskirch and colleagues, Amsterdam Albatrosses were fitted with loggers capable of detecting radar emissions from fishing vessels which may help halt illegal fishing*

 Claudia Geib has published an article, [To Stop Illegal Fishing, Send a Seabird](https://nautil.us/to-stop-illegal-fishing-send-a-seabird-242630/) in Nautilus, exploring the feasibility of seabirds tracking and helping stop illegal fishing. Her article draws on a current study using Peruvian Boobies to monitor anchovy fisheries but also references previous studies involving albatrosses. ACAP has highlighted research such as that by Henri Weimerskirch and colleagues which utilised geolocating loggers attached to Wandering *Diomedea exulans* and Amsterdam *D. amsterdamensis* Albatrosses to track fishing vessels by detecting the vessel’s radar. The resulting paper, “Ocean sentinel albatrosses locate illegal vessels and provide the first estimate of the extent of nondeclared fishing” was published in *PNAS -Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America* and is available to read [here](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1915499117).

 28 October 2022