PRESENT STATUS AND TRENDS OF SEABIRDS IN NORWAY 



299 



Table 12. Comparison of the number of seabirds breeding on the coasts of Great Britain and Ire- 

 land (Cramp et al. 1974) and on the coast of Norway. 



Danish boats (which used 4,000-6,000 hooks 

 per day and consequently caught more birds) 

 would have caught roughly 10,000 fulmars, 

 600 gannets, 9,000 kittiwakes, 21,000 murres, 

 and 18,000 puffins in the 1969 season. The 

 drift-nets in Norwegian waters are reported to 

 be less damaging to seabirds than are the 

 longlines, but even without adding the figures 

 from the drift-nets, the numbers are substan- 

 tial in view of the size of the Norwegian breed- 

 ing populations. 



Use of fishing gear close inshore, especially 

 pound nets set near colonies of diving sea- 

 birds, can take a heavy toll under special 

 weather conditions. In 1969 at Runde, 85 

 birds, mainly auks, shags, and some diving 

 ducks, were caught in one net in 24 hours; this 



is an exceptionally high figure. The total loss 

 of diving seabirds in pound nets per year in 

 Norway (about 6,000 nets fishing for 40 days) 

 was estimated to be at least 40,000 birds in 

 1969. The data are too unreliable to give 

 species composition, however, since fishermen 

 rarely make note of this. 



Amounts of fish offal from offshore 

 trawlers, drift-netters, and longline fishing 

 boats have increased in recent years, and 

 some seabirds, particularly kittiwakes, ful- 

 mars, and gannets make use of this new and 

 readily available food source. Thus, although 

 the use of fishing gear is a serious threat to 

 seabird survival, fish waste from the same 

 boats provides an abundant food supply for 

 the more pelagic species. 



