Global Seabird Programme
 Felix Heintzenberg/BIOFOKUS
Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans off Kaikoura, New Zealand
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Seabirds, particularly albatrosses, are becoming increasingly threatened at a faster rate globally than all other species-groups of birds.
Seabirds face a variety of threats, both on land and at sea. Currently the most critical conservation problem facing seabirds is thought to be bycatch caused by mortality in longline fisheres. It is estimated that over 100,000 birds – including tens of thousands of albatrosses – are killed annually by pirate fishing vessels in the Southern Ocean alone.
However mortality can be reduced to negligible levels in both pelagic (mid-water) and demersal (bottom) longline fisheries if fisheries management authorities adopt a suite of operationally benign mitigation measures that have been developed.
 Richard Thomas / BirdLife
Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys, one of the species most affected by longline fishing
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The world’s oceans are an open and dynamic system that pose no physical barriers to the dispersal and migration of many seabirds: seas are not separated as are the continents. Seabird conservation issues need therefore to be addressed globally, which led BirdLife International to establish a Global Seabird Conservation Programme in 1997, the headquarters of which was based in South Africa. In August 2004, the programme commenced a new phase with relocation from South Africa to Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Headquarters in Bedfordshire (UK). The team is funded by the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and now comprises three people: Euan Dunn (Head of Marine Policy), Cleo Small (International Policy Officer) and Ben Sullivan (Global Seabird Programme Coordinator).
The objectives of the programme remain similar to those originally developed:
- To address seabird conservation issues at a global level, as appropriate, and engage relevant stakeholders regionally and internationally
- To facilitate existing, and promote new, initiatives to reduce the incidental mortality of seabirds by fisheries, particularly in respect of longlining.
- To establish and support a network of BirdLife partners and others to influence global and regional policies affecting seabirds.
Over the next few months we will up-dating our website, which will include a comprehensive on-line bibliography of seabird/fisheries related references. We would appreciate your on-going help by emailing us any bibliographic resources and/or new publications.
Address
BirdLife International – Global Seabird Programme,
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds,
The Lodge,
Sandy,
Bedfordshire SG19 2DL
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)1767 680551
Staff
Dr Ben Sullivan, Global Seabird Programme Coordinator
Role: advocacy, focusing on coordinating and supporting BirdLife partners around the globe
email: ben.sullivan@rspb.org.uk
Dr. Cleo Small, International Marine Policy Officer
Role: provide the scientific and policy framework for the programme
email: cleo.small@rspb.org.uk
Newsletter
The Global Seabird Programme also produces a twice-yearly electronic newsletter called Sea Change.
- Sea Change, Issue 4, August 2008 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Sea Change, Issue 3, November 2007 (PDF, 1.1MB)
- Sea Change, Issue 2, October 2006 (PDF, 1 MB)
- Sea Change, Issue 1, October 2005 (PDF, 280 KB)