As summer fishing increases along WA’s coastline, so do seabird entanglements.

Western Australian Seabird Rescue responds to around 2,000 entanglement related cases annually, with summer being the peak season for injuries caused by fishing lines.

According to WASR president Matt Watson, entanglements are their biggest issue, often linked to recreational fishing.

“We see two types of entanglements, active entanglements, where a fisher actively entangles the bird in their line or hook, and passive entanglements, where lines are caught in trees or weeds and the birds inadvertently interacts with the line and gets entangled in that way,” he says.

The WASR seabird rescuers are volunteers and Mr Watson feels there are costs that might seem surprising, such as ensuring they are equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE), as the birds are known to strike at the face.

“It is important we have eye shields, glasses, gloves, basic equipment like hand nets, and more refined rescue equipment like net launchers that cost thousands of dollars. The reality is that we are not funded by the government or from the recreational fishing sector, we are wholly reliant on donations and grant funding,” Mr Watson says.

According to WASR rescuer Maddison Danforth, there have been 130 entanglements so far this year with 94 of them being fishing-related, mostly due to discarded line and hooks.

“Throwing things on the ground or cutting the line if it gets hooked, and then all that line, hooks, and lures end up in the ocean and inevitably on a bird,” she says.

“Often, the bird will have its feet bound together with fishing line, and often with seabirds it is their beak that gets bound shut so they can’t eat or drink.”

WASR has mapped entanglement hotpots, including Fremantle’s North and South Mole, the Narrow’s Bridge, and the South Perth Foreshore. Volunteers also encounter illegal fishing in protected areas.

“We encourage the public to report illegal fishing to Fish Watch or local rangers,” Mr Watson says.

WASR says it isn’t pushing for a ban on recreational fishing, but wants to continue its educational efforts to promote responsible practices.

“We want to celebrate good practices within recreational fishing. We are not here advocating for a ban on fishing practices, we want to see better behaviour and we want to see some kind of self governance in there where the recreational sector states what is or what isn’t seabird-smart fishing” Mr Watson says.