Bird Scaring Lines (Streamer Lines)

Bird scaring lines, also known as streamer lines and tori lines, are streamers hung from the back of the vessel that scare away seabirds during the gear set and haul.  In order to hang the streamers over the gear, a line is attached at a high point on the stern of the vessel and run to a float in the water trailing behind the boat.  From this line, streamers are attached that hand vertically and end in or near the water.  If implemented properly, bird scaring lines will be hung on both the port and starboard side of the gear and back far enough that where they end the fishing gear is too deep for the seabirds to reach.  Bird scaring lines effectively serve as a barrier between seabirds and the fishing gear, since most seabirds will not be willing to cross them, preventing seabird bycatch through either net entanglement or getting hooked on a longline.

The success of bird scaring lines is well documented, and in some cases have been shown to reduce seabird bycatch by over 90%.