Tens of thousands of endangered seabirds die because of fishing every year. In the Southern Ocean, the albatross is being driven to the verge of extinction by fleets of pirate fishing boats, there to illegally catch Patagonian Toothfish.
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| An albatross in flight |
In August 2003, a British fisheries protection ship joined an international effort to catch the Viarsa, a Uruguayan trawler suspected of fishing illegally for the endangered Patagonian Toothfish in the Australian fishing zone off Antarctica. The Viarsa was eventually boarded after a three week chase by UK, Australian and South African authorities. It was carrying almost 85 tonnes of toothfish worth about A$1m (US$680,000).
Pirate ships like the Viarsa kill seabirds with longlines, which can be up to 130km long. Albatross numbers have plummeted since longline fishing methods were introduced in the 1980s - more than 300,000 birds including 100,000 albatrosses are lured onto baited hooks each year, either drowning or dying of their injuries.
Some of the baited hooks are eaten not by their intended targets but by albatrosses, who dive on the floating frozen bait before it sinks and are dragged under water to drown. The albatross is simply a useless by-catch.
Join the international campaign
An international team of volunteers is currently sailing around the world to highlight the desperate plight of the albatross. Join the international campaign to save the albatross from extinction by signing the petition circulated via the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand website. The petition will be presented to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in June 2004.
Visit the expedition's website at www.savethealbatross.org
