Every year, around 95,000 diving seabirds, mainly guillemots and razorbills, drown in fishing nets off the coast of Europe. A new study shows that simple solutions can change that.
Scientists at the University of Exeter analysed a two-year trial off Cornwall, involving ten local fishers and cameras installed on their boats. A buoy with spinning “eyes”, a kind of floating scarecrow, reduced the likelihood of birds getting caught by 59%. A kite shaped like a bird of prey reduced that risk by 71%.
The device was developed over eight years by the company Fishtek Marine in partnership with the RSPB, the UK’s bird protection charity. The results were published in the journal Conservation Letters.
