Namibian fisheries reduce seabird deaths by 98%

ELLANIE SMITWINDHOEKThe Namibian Albatross Task Force is celebrating a major conservation success story after a decade of work with the country's fishing industry.A new paper published last week in the journal Biological Conservation shows that seabird deaths in the Namibian demersal longline fishery have reduced by 98%, which equates to 22 000 birds annually.According to a statement issued by the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF), this is due to effective government regulation and dedicated grassroot engagement with the industry. The NNF said the bycatch, the capture of non-target species in fisheries, remains one of the biggest threats to seabirds, especially albatrosses. The Namibian Albatross Task Force established the scale of seabird bycatch in the riskiest fisheries. According to NNF the results were rather shocking. Deadly catchNamibia's hake fisheries were found to be among the world's deadliest fisheries for seabirds, estimated at 30 000 birds killed each year. Since establishing the scale of the issue, the Namibian Albatross Task Force has worked with the fishing industry onboard to demonstrate so-called mitigation measures like bird-scaring lines, which are simple scarecrow type rope lines laid out behind the vessel that scare birds away from baited hooks or dangerous trawl cables.“After many thousands of hours at sea and in ports, building support for these measures and the importance of protecting seabirds, in 2015 the team were successful in advocating for fishery regulations requiring the use of mitigation measures by law,” says the NNF. The new study therefore demonstrates just how effective the combination of grassroot engagement and solid regulations has been. “It is truly wonderful to see bycatch drop by such a huge amount in Namibia. Our waters are crucial for many globally threatened seabirds. To think that our collaborative efforts with all the vessels and the fishery managers have resulted in more than 22 000 birds being saved every year is something special.“With the right levels of government investment and support, we hope that low levels of bycatch can be sustained long into the future and that Namibia can serve as a marine conservation inspiration at a time when it is sorely needed,” said Samantha Matjila, the Namibia Albatross Task Force team leader from NNF. Long termNNF said the next step is to make sure the approaches developed by the task force are hard-wired into the long-term management of the fishery industry. “The industry has done a remarkable job to reduce seabird bycatch so substantially over such a short period. The big challenge now is to keep up those hard-earned reductions, and to wear them as a badge of honour – we can and we must do more of this across the world if we want turn the tide on biodiversity loss,” said Titus Shaanika the senior Albatross Task Force instructor in Namibia.The Namibian team is the second of five Albatross Task Force teams across the world to have achieved a more than 90% seabird bycatch reduction. The Albatross Task Force is an international team dedicated to saving seabird by working on board fishing vessels and in ports with fishing industry, the international team is working with several countries in South America and Southern Africa.

Namibian fisheries reduce seabird deaths by 98%

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-09

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Namibian fisheries reduce seabird deaths by 98%

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-09

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