Streamers could save birds from hooks.

Fluttering streamers could save seabirds from fatal encounters with many longline fishing boats, according to a big study.

The streamers could also save part of the U.S. fishing fleet from the financial consequences of accidentally killing endangered species, says Ed Melvin of the federally funded Washington Sea Grant Program in Seattle. Short-tailed albatrosses are so rare that if the entire fishing fleet in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska catches as few as two on long-line hooks in 2 years, the Endangered Species Act will kick in and require more protection for the birds.

The study focused on demersal longline fishing boats, which trail lines of baited hooks to the depths of such species as cod and halibut. Birds crowd around to snatch waste but sometimes lunge for the hooks. U.S. regulators already require some kind of warning object above the hooks. Before tightening regulations, however, they sought data on what really works.

After 2 years of testing bird-protection devices, Melvin and his colleagues report that streamers dancing from two strings suspended behind the boat can keep seabirds away from the hooks as they sink off the boat's stern. The project's formal report is still in review, but Melvin offered a preview at the American Ornithologists' Union meeting in Seattle last week. In on-water tests, the streamer system cut the accidental deaths of seabirds by 94 percent, he said.

Thorn Smith of the North Pacific Long-line Association in Seattle praises the study for including the fishing industry, as well as regulatory agencies. Wide input proved "absolutely essential," says coinvestigator Julia K. Parrish of the University of Washington in Seattle. Usually, "that step ... is sadly lacking in conservation," she says.

Smith urged the researchers to seek more realistic results by doing their tests on commercial fishing vessels during normal operations rather than vessels chartered specifically for research. Also, the 2-year study gauged the devices' effectiveness over a period that reflects the natural variability in seabird numbers.

The testers sighted the endangered short-tailed albatross a few times, but never saw one hooked. Most of the world's remaining 1,500 of these birds breed on the active volcano of Japan's Torishima island, but they forage widely. "When a bird gets that endangered, every one counts," explains endangered species biologist Greg Balogh of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage.

The streamer setup "is one of the cheapest alternatives we have," he says. Parrish estimates that perhaps $150 would outfit a boat. Regulations may eventually require them on U.S. vessels. Parrish says she dreams that some philanthropist will one day buy devices for boats around the world.