Eyes on Buoys Cut Seabird Bycatch

A two‑year field trial off Cornwall found that floating buoys painted with large, looming eye patterns reduced diving seabird entanglement in gillnets more broadly than a moving kite deterrent, which worked only in a ~100‑foot path. The study cites the scale of the problem (≈95,000 seabirds killed annually in European gillnets) and shows a practical, low‑cost way to target high‑risk times and places. — If adopted, this inexpensive visual deterrent could be a nearly immediate policy lever to cut seabird mortality, align conservation goals with fishing livelihoods, and inform fisheries regulation and subsidy design.