That this House notes with alarm the falling numbers of albatrosses on the islands in the South Atlantic which, according to a report by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife International, are being pushed to the brink of extinction; recognises that the main cause of death is deep-sea fishing using a line with a number of baited hooks attached to it causing up to 100,000 albatrosses to drown on the fishing hooks each year; further notes that the decline in population in South Georgia is the most drastic in albatross populations in the world; and expresses its support for the RSPB and BirdLife International who are sending a taskforce to South America and South Africa to work with local fishermen to prevent deaths through measures such as flying streamers behind the fishing boat and adding weights to the line so that they sink more quickly.

That this House notes with alarm the falling numbers of albatrosses on the islands in the South Atlantic which, according to a report by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife International, are being pushed to the brink of extinction; recognises that the main cause of...

That this House commends Bird Life International and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for their campaign, Save the Albatross, a noble enterprise designed to protect this most rare and graceful gliding giant of the skies around the United Kingdom Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the British Antarctic Territory from the huge threat of long lined fishing hooks, that are responsible for one albatross death every five minutes; notes the project's sustained endeavour in drawing attention to the bird's sad plight, educating fishermen to use alternative fishing practices, and encouraging governments and organisations to enforce these practices when necessary; further notes the importance of tackling pirate fishing, whose unregulated existence is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of albatrosses every year; urges governments worldwide to take heed of the plight of the albatross; and hopes that this traditional bringer of good omens for sailors will be allowed to prosper in British overseas territories and not meet the fate of its ancestor in Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

That this House commends Bird Life International and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for their campaign, Save the Albatross, a noble enterprise designed to protect this most rare and graceful gliding giant of the skies around the United Kingdom Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the British...

That this House congratulates His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on his forthright and timely plea on behalf of albatrosses, 100,000 of which are being killed each year by fishermen and which now face extinction; notes that albatrosses are the world's largest birds, mate for life and that all twenty-one species are now threatened by long-line fishing; and calls upon the Government to deploy sufficient naval resources to enforce with utmost vigour the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels and if necessary forcibly to remove pirate long-line fishing boats from the water.

That this House congratulates His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on his forthright and timely plea on behalf of albatrosses, 100,000 of which are being killed each year by fishermen and which now face extinction; notes that albatrosses are the world's largest birds, mate for life and that all...

That this House welcomes John Ridgway's return to London in the yacht English Rose VI after he finished his 327 day trip which started in July 2003 from Ardmore (Scotland); congratulates Mr Ridgway for using his journey under the flag of the UN Environment Programme to raise awareness of the current threat to the world's albatross population; notes that more than 300,000 seabirds are killed every year by long line fishing which involves setting a multi-hooked single line of up to 130km behind a fishing boat; is appalled that an estimated one billion baited hooks are set annually by the world's long line fleets; acknowledge that for the most part these are not eaten by their intended targets, but by albatrosses and other seabirds; understands that the most serious threat to albatrosses is posed by Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported pirate fishing vessels; therefore urges the UK Government to combat illegal fishing and its consequent damage by promoting more effective enforcement of international agreements such as the Agreement on Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, the FAO-International Plan of Action, and the provisions included in the EU Common Fisheries Policy; further urges the UK Government to ensure that British overseas territories guarantee protection for albatrosses and other seabirds.

That this House welcomes John Ridgway's return to London in the yacht English Rose VI after he finished his 327 day trip which started in July 2003 from Ardmore (Scotland); congratulates Mr Ridgway for using his journey under the flag of the UN Environment Programme to raise awareness of the...

That this House welcomes the campaign by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to save the albatross across the globe; congratulates the UK Government on its ratification of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP); notes that the UK's Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha, which has a key area for albatross conservation in its waters, has yet to rectify the agreement, and urges the UK Government to press Tristan da Cunha to ratify it; understands that there are only 9,000 Tristan albatrosses left and that spectacled petrels breed only on Tristan, on which the world population of less than 10,000 birds is confined; is concerned that with about 700 such albatrosses killed annually by long line fisheries off the Brazilian coast, this species is now classed as critically endangered by the IUCN (World Conservation Union); fears that long line fishing poses the greatest single threat to albatrosses, with more than 100,000 dying on baited hooks around the world each year, threatening with extinction all 21 species of albatross and six species of petrel; and welcomes the implementation of conservation measures by ACAP signatory states to protect the sailor's friend.

That this House welcomes the campaign by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to save the albatross across the globe; congratulates the UK Government on its ratification of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP); notes that the UK's Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha,...

That this House notes the plight of the albatross and many other species of endangered seabirds who are indiscriminately killed as a result of longline fishing activities in the southern oceans; is concerned that hundreds of thousands of seabirds die every year, accidentally hooked on the longlines put out by fishing vessels; urges longline fishermen to use bird scaring lines with plastic streamers towed behind their vessels or set their fishing lines under water out of reach of birds; and calls upon the Government to press fishing nations to adopt action plans devised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation to reduce seabird catches in longline fisheries and to persuade the UK's European Union partners to adopt an active part in ensuring that member states with longline fleets reduce the slaughter of seabirds by fishing responsibly.

That this House notes the plight of the albatross and many other species of endangered seabirds who are indiscriminately killed as a result of longline fishing activities in the southern oceans; is concerned that hundreds of thousands of seabirds die every year, accidentally hooked on the longlines put out by...