Stop seabird slaughter through EU Fisheries Policy

BirdLife International presented the European Parliament with alarming data about the extent of seabird bycatch globally and in Europe yesterday. At the same time, BirdLife welcomed the long awaited first steps of the European Commission to tackle the problem by developing a Community Plan of Action on seabirds with the intention of completing it next year. [UTF-8?]“With 300,000 seabirds, including about 100,000 albatrosses, dying annually as bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries - which include many vessels operating under EU flags - the European Community (EC) has the responsibility to put in place effective measures to tackle this readily solvable [UTF-8?]problem” said Dr Euan Dunn, Head of the Marine Policy at the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK), in a presentation at the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament.