Japanese Prime Minister's visit:
PM asked to put extinction of albatross on the agenda

Forest and Bird is calling on the Prime Minister to put albatross extinction on the agenda for the Japanese Prime Minister's visit. Forest and Bird is participating in an international campaign to save the albatross, coordinated by Birdlife International.

"Many of New Zealand's albatross and petrel species are threatened with extinction by long-line fishing," says Eric Pyle, Forest and Bird's Conservation Manager. "Japanese longline fleets catch these birds and Japanese boats need to do more to reduce seabird by-catch."

Albatross and petrel conservation is a huge issue for New Zealand. "We have more endemic albatross and petrel species than any other country. Many New Zealand albatross and petrel species are doomed to extinction unless there are major changes to fisheries practices around the world."

Well over 300,000 seabirds are caught around the world each year. There are a range of measures for reducing seabird deaths from longlining operations. These include; Tori or bird lines and night setting, using weighted hooks, not dumping of offal while longlines are set.

"We hope that the issue of albatross and petrel deaths in fisheries is high Helen Clark's agenda with the Japanese Prime Minister," says Mr Pyle.

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