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Español The European Commission has been assessing the evidence needed to develop an EU Plan of Action for reducing incidental bycatch of seabirds, originally with a view to a plan by 2009. The initiative at that time applied only to fishing in European Union waters, not to the external waters where EU-flagged vessels contribute to the bycatch of globally threatened ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels.
BirdLife International has presented the Commission with a 'shadow plan' reflecting its priorities based on the 2009 FAO Best Practice Technical Guidelines (FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No. 1, Suppl. 2). The Commission then issued its own plan framework which was subjected to cost-benefit analysis by the UK-based Marine Resources Assessment Group (MRAG), drawing on questionnaire interviews with fishers in various European ports, but also extensively on BirdLife data.
Following this BirdLife Europe collected 23 000 signatures (the majority gathered by the UK partner, RSPB) calling for an urgent and robust plan to address the seabird toll (estimated at 200 000 birds a year in EU waters alone) by EU fishing gears. This toll includes around an estimated 100 000 birds drowned annually in Baltic Sea gill-nets, and an estimated 50 000 birds (including 40 000 Great Shearwaters Puffinus gravis) killed by the demersal longline fishery for hake on the Gran Sol grounds off south-west Ireland.
In June 2010 BirdLife presented EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki with the petition in the form of a photo-montage of a Cory's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea, a common victim of long lines in the Mediterranean (and a potential candidate for listing within ACAP). The image was a mosaic of 2300 seabird photos and fishing vessels, each ‘pixel' representing 10 signatures.
The Commission'snow intends to produce a plan, addressing both EU and (significantly for ACAP-listed species) external waters by the end of 2011. In parallel, the Commission is expected to present a proposal for reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy in July this year, embracing an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management which will cater for impacts on seabirds.
For further details on progress with the European Union's NPOA-Seabirds visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/partners/consultations/seabirds/index_en.htm
With thanks to Euan Dunn, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for information.
John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 7 June 2011