The behaviour of seabirds and the rate of incidental mortality were observed during commercial trawling operations for Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) in the 1994/95 season near Macquarie Island and Kerguelen Island. Longlining for D. eleginoides and trawling for mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari) were also observed at Kerguelen. Many seabirds were constantly observed near the vessels, especially giant petrels (Macronectes halli and M. giganteus), black-browed albatrosses (Diomedea melanophris) and Dominican gulls (Larus dominicanus). White-chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis) were common only at Kerguelen. Bird mortality during trawling was zero at Macquarie Island and very low at Kerguelen; most was associated with a single vessel using a netsonde cable while targetting C. gunnari. Most mortality associated with both longliners and trawlers was of white-chinned petrels, with a lesser mortality of albatross species. Mortality rates associated with longlining in the Kerguelen region were lower than those reported for the South Georgia area, probably because the birds at the former site are distracted from the longlines by the discharge of offal from the side of the vessel opposite to where the longline is set.