Commercial fishing threatens survival of albatross, conservationists warn

Albatrosses and other birds are facing extinction as they become tangled in commercial fishing gear, conservation organisations warned today.

Thirty-seven species of seabird are at risk and 18 of these species, including albatrosses, are under threat of extinction, the RSPB and BirdLife International warned. The birds take bait from hooks, get caught in the fishing lines and drown.

The most at-risk species include the Tristan albatross of the South Atlantic and the Balearic shearwater of European waters.

“Dying at a rate of around one every five minutes, the albatross family is becoming threatened faster than any other family of birds….Read Full Article