Albatrosses face growing peril

Albatrosses face growing peril
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent

The plight of several species of albatross has worsened
significantly in the last year, conservationists say.

Black-browed albatross (Image: Richard Thomas/BirdLife)
They say populations of six of the 21 albatross species have
shown "a further alarming decrease".

One, previously thought to be safe, is now believed to be at
high risk of extinction.

The culprits are said to be longline fishing boats, blamed for
thousands of bird deaths annually.

The warning is sounded by BirdLife International, an alliance
of conservation groups working in more than 100 countries.

No species safe

BirdLife representatives from South Africa, France, Australia,
New Zealand, Argentina, the US and the UK have been meeting
at a workshop in Cape Town, to bring together global tracking
data on albatrosses and petrels.

BirdLife says research its experts have analysed shows the
mounting peril the birds face, with all 21 species now thought
to face some risk of extinction.

BirdLife's assessment is based on the classification used for
the Red List of threatened species compiled by IUCN-The
World Conservation Union.
.....
Longliners are blamed for killing 300,000 seabirds annually,
a third of them albatrosses.

The birds swallow the baited hooks on the fishing lines, which
can be 80 miles (130 km) long, and either die of their injuries
or simply drown.

BirdLife and other conservationists are working with the fleets
to promote bird-friendly fishing methods.

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