Action

Action Synopsis: Bird Conservation About Actions

Dye baits to reduce seabird bycatch

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    50%
  • Certainty
    20%
  • Harms
    0%

Study locations

Key messages

A randomised replicated and controlled study in Hawaii found that dying bait blue significantly reduced the number of attacks from albatross on baits being set.

 

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

  1. A randomised, replicated and controlled experiment in February 1999, in the Northwestern Islands, Hawaii, USA (Boggs 2001), found that dyeing squid bait blue when setting hookless bait lines reduced attacks by black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis albatrosses by 95% and 94% respectively, compared to lines set with un-dyed baits (measured as attacks/bird/100 branch lines). Twenty-four repeats of each treatment were used, set during the day to mimic longline setting for swordfish.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Williams, D.R., Child, M.F., Dicks, L.V., Ockendon, N., Pople, R.G., Showler, D.A., Walsh, J.C., zu Ermgassen, E.K.H.J. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Bird Conservation. Pages 137-281 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

 

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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Bird Conservation

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation
What Works 2021 cover

What Works in Conservation

What Works in Conservation provides expert assessments of the effectiveness of actions, based on summarised evidence, in synopses. Subjects covered so far include amphibians, birds, mammals, forests, peatland and control of freshwater invasive species. More are in progress.

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