Fishing harves

FISHING HARVES

There are many specimens of marine fauna, mostly birds, that enter our Wildlife Recovery Center, seriously injured by fishing hooks of all kinds.

Bottom longline fishing is deadly dangerous for, as the SEO birdlife projects warn, more than 1,000 Mediterranean birds, some of them protected and in danger of extinction (such as Puffinus mauretanicus).

The shallowest longline is a fishing mechanism widely used by artisanal fishermen on the Balearic coast, as it adds less weight to their hooks, causing them to sink less and consequently, leaving them more exposed to our birds.
It is estimated that 60% of these birds are caught alive on the surface but with a very reserved recovery prognosis, depending on the severity of the case.

The collaboration of all is needed to reduce as much as possible the harmful effects of certain fishing gears and thus reduce the mortality data of seabirds in the Mediterranean Sea, which is currently in a dangerous decline.

Detail of the operation of the fishing method: longline.

Specimen of Corsican gull (Larus audouinii) that has been able to recover after being caught on a triple hook.

Author: Judit Baubí (biologist from the CRFS COFIB of Menorca)

Wildlife recovery centres Balearic Islands

Contact our wildlife recovery centres on each island.

MALLORCA Centre

COFIB wildlife recovery centre in Mallorca.

IBIZA Centre

COFIB wildlife recovery centre in Ibiza

Fauna Marine

MARINE wildlife recovery centre

MENORCA Centre

COFIB wildlife recovery centre in Menorca

FORMENTERA Centre

COFIB wildlife recovery centre in Formentera