High numbers of seabird species, including albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters, auks, sea ducks and divers, are being caught and killed in fishing gear every year. According to the European Commission, "Current management measures to protect seabirds are contained in a wide range of fisheries and environmental legislation as well as in a number of international Conventions and Agreements. These measures, however, have been proved largely ineffective in reducing seabird bycatch except in some isolated cases in distant waters such as the Antarctic and the Falkland Islands." So, after many years of campaigning by the UK's RSPB linking with other partners via Birdlife International, on the 16 November 2012 the European Commission launched The EU Seabird Plan of Action, aiming to reduce seabird bycatch. The plan follows the 2009 FAO Best Practice Technical Guidelines and the intention is to work with fishermen, adopting best-prac-tice techniques, underpinning an essentially voluntary plan with legislative teeth where necessary.
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