More than a hundred thousand are getting caught in fishing nets each year and drowning.
The birds get tangled as they try to eat bait from the long line of hooks trailed by the boats.
Try night fishing
Experts say fishermen should put lines out at night when the birds don't feed.
And if they put weights on the lines, they'd sink out of sight so the peckish birds wouldn't see them.
Already, Japanese fleets in New Zealand have changed the way they fish and the number of birds caught fell from 4,000 to just 12.
Hear story
Chat about the environment
Endangered animals quiz
Everyone can help the environment
