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A renewed call (click here) is being made to reduce the mortality of seabirds from fishing activities in European waters.  It is being suggested once more that the European Union via its European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries develops and adopts a EU Seabird Plan of Action, following the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization's best practice guidelines (http://www.fao.org/fishery/ipoa-seabirds/en).

Seabird species considered at risk include the Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, the Near Threatened Yelkouan Shearwater P. yelkouan and Cory's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea, all of which breed on islands within the Mediterranean.  Although not ACAP-listed species, these three shearwaters have been identified as potential candidates for inclusion within the Agreement (click here).

The proposed EU plan could also address the impacts of Europe's distant-water fishing fleets in the southern hemisphere - where ACAP-listed species occur.

Click here for an earlier ACAP news item on calls to protect Mediterranean shearwaters from longline mortality.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, posted 23 January 2010