Each winter, off the coasts of Cornwall and across European waters, tens of thousands of diving seabirds meet their end in gillnets they cannot see — a quiet, largely invisible toll that has persisted for decades. Now, after years of searching, researchers and fishers have found that two remarkably simple devices — a spinning buoy with wide, startling eyes and a kite shaped like a bird of prey — can reduce these deaths by more than half. The discovery, born from a two-year collaboration between Cornish fishers and scientists, suggests that the distance between a problem and its solution is som
Floating scarecrows cut seabird deaths in fishing nets by two-thirds
Approximately 95,000 diving birds, including razorbills and guillemots, are killed annually in gillnets off European coasts.
Simple deterrents can reduce seabird deaths by two-thirds
Mark
So we're talking about 95,000 birds a year dying in nets. That's a real number, right? Not an estimate that could be wildly off?
Mimi
It's an estimate, but it's the figure researchers use across European waters. The actual count is probably impossible—you can't monitor every gillnet. But the scale is undeniable. Thousands of birds, every season.
Luke
Right. And the study itself—it's based on ten Cornish fishers. That's a small sample. Does it hold up in the North Sea? Off Ireland? We don't know yet.
Mimi
True, but that's why they're calling it a milestone, not a solution. The evidence from Cornwall is strong enough to justify wider testing.
Mark
The buoy reduces deaths by 59 percent, the kite by 71 percent. Why the difference?
Mimi
The kite works differently—it's a visual predator shape. The buoy relies on the spinning eyes. Different birds might respond differently to each one. That's actually useful information for fishers.
Luke
But we don't have data on whether fishers will actually use them consistently. A device that works in a controlled trial might not work if it's inconvenient or costs too much.
Mimi
Fair point. But the RSPB's language suggests they're thinking about implementation now, not just research.
Mark
The winter pattern—that's interesting. Most deaths happen in winter?
Mimi
Yes. So fishers could deploy the devices seasonally, which makes it cheaper and less burdensome.
Luke
Again, that assumes fishers will switch devices on and off. Behavior change is harder than technology.
Mark
So what's the next step?
Mimi
Wider deployment, monitoring real-world results, and probably some regulatory push to make it standard practice.
Luke
And we'll know in a few years whether it actually works at scale.
The Pulse
- An estimated 95,000 razorbills, guillemots, and other diving birds drown annually in European gillnets — a scale of loss that has quietly alarmed conservationists for over a decade.
- The tension has always been the same: any solution that threatens the livelihoods of gillnet fishers risks being rejected before it can take hold.
- Ten Cornish fishers partnered with Fishtek Marine and the University of Exeter to test two low-cost deterrents on working boats, with cameras capturing what actually happened beneath the surface.
- The looming-eyes buoy cut seabird entanglement by 59 percent; the predator-shaped kite reduced capture rates by 71 percent — results that researchers are calling a genuine turning point.
- A key finding sharpens the path forward: in Cornwall, seabird deaths cluster in winter months, meaning targeted seasonal deployment could protect vulnerable populations without disrupting fishing year-round.
- The tools exist, the evidence is in hand, and the burden on fishers is minimal — what remains is the harder, slower work of turning a promising study into widespread practice.
Each winter, off the coasts of Cornwall and across European waters, tens of thousands of diving seabirds meet their end in gillnets they cannot see — a quiet, largely invisible toll that has persisted for decades. Now, after years of searching, researchers and fishers have found that two remarkably simple devices — a spinning buoy with wide, startling eyes and a kite shaped like a bird of prey — can reduce these deaths by more than half. The discovery, born from a two-year collaboration between Cornish fishers and scientists, suggests that the distance between a problem and its solution is sometimes not a matter of complexity, but of patience and the willingness to look.
Off the Cornish coast, razorbills and guillemots have long faced a danger they cannot perceive: the vertical walls of mesh known as gillnets, hanging invisibly beneath the surface. Across European waters, an estimated 95,000 diving birds drown in these nets every year — a steady, largely unseen toll that has troubled scientists, conservationists, and many of the fishers themselves.
For more than a decade, the RSPB and researchers searched for a solution that wouldn't require fishers to abandon their nets or their livelihoods. What they found was disarmingly simple. A looming-eyes buoy — a floating device with a spinning head bearing two large, startling eyes — and a commercially available kite shaped like a predatory bird were tested over two years by ten Cornish fishers working with Fishtek Marine, the company behind the buoy. Cameras mounted on the boats recorded what actually happened when the deterrents were in use.
The findings, published in Conservation Letters by scientists at the University of Exeter, were striking. The buoy reduced seabird entanglement by 59 percent; the kite cut capture rates by 71 percent. The study also revealed that in Cornwall, the danger is concentrated in winter months — meaning fishers could deploy the devices seasonally, protecting birds when the risk is highest without needing them year-round.
Lead researcher Tom Horton described the results as a turning point, noting that the work now gives fishers and regulators a clear map of when and where to act. The RSPB's Yann Rouxel, who has spent years working on the bycatch problem, called it a milestone — evidence that vulnerable seabird populations can be protected without dismantling the fisheries that depend on gillnets. The devices are ready. The harder question is whether the will exists to put them to work at scale.
Off the Cornish coast, where fishing boats work through winter swells, thousands of seabirds die each year in nets they never see coming. Razorbills and guillemots—diving birds that hunt underwater—plunge into gillnets, the vertical walls of mesh that hang beneath the surface like invisible traps. Across European waters, an estimated 95,000 of these birds are caught and drown annually, a steady toll that has drawn the attention of scientists, conservationists, and the fishers themselves who want a solution that doesn't force them to stop working.
For more than a decade, researchers and the RSPB have been searching for a way to reduce these deaths without shutting down the fisheries that depend on gillnets. The answer, it turns out, is surprisingly simple: a floating scarecrow and a bird-shaped kite. The scarecrow—technically called a looming-eyes buoy—is a device with a spinning head topped by two large eyes designed to startle diving birds away from the nets. The kite, a commercially available deterrent shaped like a predatory bird, works through a different mechanism of fear. Neither is complicated. Neither is expensive. But over two years, ten Cornish fishers and Fishtek Marine, the company that developed the buoy, tested both devices on their boats, fitting cameras to watch what actually happened when the deterrents were deployed.
The results, analyzed by scientists at the University of Exeter and published in Conservation Letters, were striking. The looming-eyes buoy reduced seabird entanglement by 59 percent. The kite performed even better, cutting the rate of capture by 71 percent. These are not marginal improvements. They represent the difference between dozens of birds dying in a season and a handful. The study also revealed a crucial pattern: in Cornwall, most seabird deaths occur in winter months, which means fishers can deploy the devices strategically, protecting birds when the risk is highest without needing to use them year-round.
Tom Horton, the lead researcher from Exeter, framed the findings as a turning point. The evidence, he said, shows that practical, straightforward deterrents can substantially reduce seabird bycatch in gillnet fisheries. More than that, the research identified when and where the danger is greatest, giving fishers and regulators a clear map for where to focus their efforts. The conservation benefit is real and measurable. The burden on fishers is minimal.
Yann Rouxel, the RSPB's bycatch programme manager, echoed that sense of momentum. After more than a decade of research into the problem and its solutions, seeing the work move from the lab into actual fishing operations felt like a milestone. The performance of both devices, he noted, suggests a path forward that protects vulnerable seabird populations without forcing gillnet fishers to abandon their livelihoods or change their fundamental practices. What remains now is implementation—getting these simple tools into wider use, training fishers to deploy them, and watching whether the laboratory results hold up across different waters and seasons. The scarecrow is ready. The question is whether it will be used.
Notable Quotes
This study provides some of the strongest evidence to date that simple, practical deterrents can substantially reduce seabird bycatch in gillnet fisheries.— Tom Horton, University of Exeter
The performance of the LEB and kite is a major milestone in the effort to reduce seabird bycatch without impeding gillnet fishers while at sea.— Yann Rouxel, RSPB bycatch programme manager
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