I
Ian Cloke
Guest
A documentary which highlights the plight of the albatross is being launched by the Prince of Wales.
In the film Charles makes a passionate call for a worldwide effort to save the birds from extinction.
Speaking in 'Race to Save the Albatross' Charles says: "I feel it should be our duty to ensure that we don't lose any species if we possibly can help it.
"Think of the way in which we treat our world, and the way we treat our oceans, and the way we exploit the fish stocks in particular...It would be such an appalling commentary on the way we treat the world."
Long-line fishing is the major threat to the birds, whose numbers have been falling dramatically over the last 30 years.
It is estimated that up to 100,000 albatrosses annually - or one bird every five minutes - drowns on the end of a long-line fishing hook as they try to snatch bait.
The film reveals one of the major problems they face is from pirate ships fishing in the Southern Ocean under flags of convenience - unregulated vessels thought to be responsible for at least a quarter of all the albatrosses killed every year.
In his commentary Charles also calls on food retailers to act responsibly: "A lot is dependent on the retailers and big stores - they also can make a huge difference by deciding that they are going to obtain their fish only from certified stocks."
The documentary has been produced by the charity Television Trust for the Environment in collaboration with the RSPB.
The organisation BirdLife International Task Force is working with fishermen to promote simple, low cost ways to cut the number of birds killed by long-line fishing boats, including setting lines at night, weighting them so they sink quickly, and using streamer lines to scare the birds away.
Commenting on these solutions Charles, who will host a Clarence House reception to launch the film, says: "These mitigation measures have been shown to reduce the damage to albatrosses to almost zero... the challenge is to get the message across that these mitigation measures should be used at all times in all these fishing areas."
In the film Charles makes a passionate call for a worldwide effort to save the birds from extinction.
Speaking in 'Race to Save the Albatross' Charles says: "I feel it should be our duty to ensure that we don't lose any species if we possibly can help it.
"Think of the way in which we treat our world, and the way we treat our oceans, and the way we exploit the fish stocks in particular...It would be such an appalling commentary on the way we treat the world."
Long-line fishing is the major threat to the birds, whose numbers have been falling dramatically over the last 30 years.
It is estimated that up to 100,000 albatrosses annually - or one bird every five minutes - drowns on the end of a long-line fishing hook as they try to snatch bait.
The film reveals one of the major problems they face is from pirate ships fishing in the Southern Ocean under flags of convenience - unregulated vessels thought to be responsible for at least a quarter of all the albatrosses killed every year.
In his commentary Charles also calls on food retailers to act responsibly: "A lot is dependent on the retailers and big stores - they also can make a huge difference by deciding that they are going to obtain their fish only from certified stocks."
The documentary has been produced by the charity Television Trust for the Environment in collaboration with the RSPB.
The organisation BirdLife International Task Force is working with fishermen to promote simple, low cost ways to cut the number of birds killed by long-line fishing boats, including setting lines at night, weighting them so they sink quickly, and using streamer lines to scare the birds away.
Commenting on these solutions Charles, who will host a Clarence House reception to launch the film, says: "These mitigation measures have been shown to reduce the damage to albatrosses to almost zero... the challenge is to get the message across that these mitigation measures should be used at all times in all these fishing areas."