More than seven million sharks and skates are killed every year as an unintended consequence of longline fishing off the west coasts of South Africa, Namibia and Angola, a report by environmental group WWF said on Thursday.
The practice also claims about 34 000 seabirds and 4 200 sea turtles a year in the area known as the Benguela ecosystem, according to the report compiled in association with conservation body BirdLife.
”The majority of albatross and sea-turtle species and many shark species are listed as threatened with extinction by the IUCN [World Conservation Union], with fisheries impacts being cited as a major cause,” said a statement released in Cape Town.
The creatures get caught on baited hooks put out on long lines by fishing boats.
”The report shows us that the bycatch is substantial; it is a huge concern,” Samantha Petersen, manager of the BirdLife and WWF Responsible Fisheries Programme, said at the launch. ”But there is a lot of will to resolve the issue and there are win-win solutions.”
These include the use of bird-scaring lines — scarecrow-like ropes cast alongside fishing lines to stop albatrosses and other seabirds from diving on to baited hooks set by fishing vessels.
The use of such lines is compulsory in South Africa, but compliance is low, Petersen said.
WWF Sanlam Marine Programme manager Aaniyah Omardien said such measures not only help preserve fragile ecosystems, but also benefit fishermen by saving time on unhooking unintended catches, reducing damage to fishing gear and minimising bait loss.
”It is better for everybody if we can succeed in reducing bycatch,” she said.
No mitigation measures are yet in place other than for birds, but experts are examining special gadgets like hooks that cannot be swallowed by turtles as well as magnets that repel sharks from fishing lines. — AFP
