Passed a law that prevents the death of 300 000 specimens per year.
After 12 years of campaigning, BirdLife International managed the European Union to publishes this week, when in Portugal we commemorate the National Day of the Sea, an Action Plan which aims to protect seabirds from being catch during fishing operations. While fishing, the birds are usually attracted to the vicinity of vessels not only because of the fish caught and used as bait, but the fish without commercial interest, rejected during the fishing operation. In this interaction with the boats, birds impinge or become trapped in fishing gear and die by drowning. This is a reality that kills about 300,000 birds per year, mostly in longline fisheries and in gillnets, but also to a lesser degree in trawls and seines.
BirdLife and its European partners managed the publication of this plan, which establishes the basic recommendations to be implemented by the European fleet and thereby curb the more than 2 million seabirds killed in fishing tools since 2001. Iván Ramírez, Marine Program Coordinator of the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (partner organization of BirdLife in Portugal), states that "the launch of this Plan of Action as a partner of BirdLife is a victory and conquered a major step in protecting seabirds . However, it is important that the Action Plan is included in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, currently under way, and that this is accompanied by the investigation and implementation of mitigation measures and greater awareness of the fishing community. "SPEA has dedicated special attention to the issue of incidental catches of seabirds within the Project FAME - Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment, quantifying and analyzing the interactions of seabirds with fishing boats along the Portuguese coast. Note that in addition of being the main wintering area of the Balearic shearwater-the most endangered seabird in Europe, the coast is also an important area for wintering and migratory passage for dozens of other species of seabirds.
http://www.spea.pt/noticias/detalhes.php?id=443&tipo=2
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/damanaki/headlines/press-releases/2012/11/20121115_2_en.htm
