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Hsiang-Wen Huang of the Institute of Marine Affairs and Resources Management, National Taiwan Ocean University writing in the journal Marine Policy reviews Taiwan's activities relating to bycatch of seabirds (and sharks, turtles and cetaceans) by its longline fisheries.

The paper's abstract follows:

"Taiwan is a major longline fishing nation with an interest in proactive conservation measures.  Facing global concerns about the incidental catch in longline fisheries, Taiwan has focused on bycatch issues since the 2000s.  This paper reviews the existing information on bycatch and the actions taken by Taiwan in the past ten years, including the establishment of observer programs, education and outreach, adoption of national plans of action and publicizing regulations for mitigation measures.  This review suggests that continuing and improving the observer program, ensuring the compliance of mitigation measures, and encouraging information exchange and international cooperation will contribute to the conservation of non-commercial species of concern."

Reference:

Huang, H.-W. 2011.  Bycatch of high sea longline fisheries and measures taken by Taiwan: actions and challenges.  Marine Policy 35: 712-720.

See also:

Huang, H.-W. & Liu, K.-M. 2010.  Bycatch and discards by Taiwanese large-scale tuna longline fleets in the Indian Ocean.  Fisheries Research 106: 261-270.

Huang, H.W.  & Yeh, Y.-M. 2011.  Impact of Taiwanese distant water longline fisheries on the Pacific seabirds: finding hotspots on the high seas.  Animal Conservation  DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2011.00462.x.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 June 2011