Ken Jones
Posts: 4797
Location: California
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International Bird Rescue Research Center
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
More pelicans tangled in fishing line & hooks
IBRRC admitted nine pelicans from Santa Cruz yesterday. Each one was suffering injuries from entanglement in fishing line and hooks. While it is not surprising for the marine and aquatic bird specialists to receive large numbers of pelicans in a day, especially this time of year, the oddity is that these casualties of fishing had come from one area, Santa Cruz.
They have seen this before. Back in 2002, International Bird Rescue received 200 young pelicans from Santa Cruz within a one-month period. They found that fishermen off Santa Cruz Pier, at the wharf, were targeting schooling anchovies using what’s called a longline – one strand of fishing line with multiple hooks. As the fishermen reel in their wriggling fish, pelicans, mostly young, inexperienced birds, grab the prey and become snared in the line. The lines often break or they are cut. The pelicans fly off trailing line and often with imbedded hooks. In 2002 state agencies closed the wharf temporarily until the bait-fish moved on.
Yesterday, rescuers confirmed sightings of this type of fishing going on off the cement ship at Seacliff Beach in Capitola and off of the Santa Cruz Pier. Dead pelicans were washing up snared in line, and a number of still flighted birds were spotted entangled and in need of help. Update: California Fish & Games has reportedly closed Seacliff Pier (the cement ship area) to fishing.
Today, rescuers will return to the area to try and catch the injured animals. Help is expected from the California Department of Fish & Game and US Fish & Wildlife Services in dealing with this matter. Citizens are being asked to report sightings to local rescuers – they can find contact information through a toll-free wildlife hotline for California 866-WILD-911 or by calling rescue coordinator Rebecca Dmytryk, 831-869-6241.
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Fishing around pelicans: Some suggestions
Each year IBRRC treats many endangered brown pelicans that have gotten themselves tangled in discarded fishing line and hooks. We'd like encourage fishermen to take better responsibilty for their habitat for the sake of all. Here's some suggestions:
Switch to barbless hooks. The use of barbless hooks works well for getting hooks out of birds and it has been proven that very few fish ever get away because a hook is barbless and causes less harm to fish that are caught and released.
1. Never discard used lines over the side of the boat or leave it where you've fished. Please dispose of it properly and if you can't find a receptacle close by, just please carry it out with you to dispose of properly. Monofilament line entanglement is a slow and painful death. If you ever see lines or hooks in the water, on the beach, or anywhere in the environment, pick it up and cut it into little pieces before disposing of it.
2. Avoid casting when seabirds are in the area, you may avoid having to reel in a hooked one and having to deal with it.
Suggestions from Kent Sheaffer at Reel Buddies:
If you hook or find a hooked bird, there is something you can do to help:
1. If in California, contact IBRRC or a local wildlife rehabilitation center near you if you don't feel comfortable dealing with it without instructions, but just don't walk away!
2. NEVER just cut the line, leaving some of the mono filament, it can kill the bird and other birds can get wrapped in it as well.
3. Get someone to help you. It is just about impossible to do the job of holding the bird and removing the hook and/or line alone. Use a lot of common sense and caution. Birds will instinctively go for your eyes with their beaks.
4. Figure out how you can safely capture the bird. If you have a large poled net, you can use that. Or, drop a cast net over the bird, being careful not to bend and break the feathers. Don't try and lift or pull the bird by the hooked line! It will cause the bird to struggle from pain and you'll just set the hook and cause more damage.
5. Get control of the birds head, but don't hold the bill shut. Pelicans can't breath if their bills are held shut. Grasp the bird's bill with your hands and keep a hold on it, before removing it from the net. If you have a towel or heavy shirt available you can cover the bird's head to help calm it.
6. Untangle the bird and make sure you get it all lines off. If there are no hooks in the bird, carefully release it while protecting your face. If the bird is too weak to fly, get it to a wildlife rehabilitation center for medical treatment.
7. If a hook is embedded in the flesh, gently push it through until you can see the barb. Clip the barb off and pull the hook back out. Be careful to cover the hook before you cut it, the hook could fly into your face while being cut. If you leave the hook or barb in the bird it will die from infection.
8. If the hook is through bone, or the bird is bleeding badly or seems very lethargic and non-aggressive it is already in serious condition and will need professional help. Do not release the bird, but call us or your local wildlife rehabilitator and get it help as quickly as possible. Never keep the bird and try and treat it yourself, it is illegal to do so!
http://intbirdrescue.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-pelicans-tangled-in-fishing-line.html [
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:12 am
