Blogs

I recently returned from a routine Albatross Task Force at-sea trip onboard a conventional wet fish trawl vessel in Argentina (fish are stored on ice, but not frozen like on the larger freezer vessels). The trip lasted a total of 16 days and fishing was concentrated around 300 km east of the Valdéz...

After a long wait my voyage on a demersal (bottom) longline vessel finally set out for a trip that will last over three weeks, sailing from the port of Ushuaia. I was delighted to find that this boat is very comfortable, with internet, LCD TVs and even a gym! Not something you find on most ATF trips...

From the 30 th November to the 2 nd December 2010, the ATF in Argentina and the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata -CONICET organised the second intensive observer training course for Indentification and Recording of Seabird Interactions with Fisheries. The course was intended for fishery...

At this time of year in the southern hemisphere you can enjoy a stroll along the harbour and, in the evening, watch the vessels gently roll in with their ice boxes full of fish as they arrive to the bustling activity of the port. Over the last week I’ve been dedicating my work to this peasant...

Our trips at-sea don’t always turn out to be happy experiences, and we don’t always achieve our objectives when we get onboard a vessel. My last sea-trip was testament to this. It began in Puerto Madryn from where many Argentinean trawler vessels weigh anchor. We set off on May 4 and sailed...

As my most recent trip on a trawl vessel started, we left the port of Mar del Plata into an enormous storm. However, I felt pretty good about everything and kept my thoughts to the task in hand. The trip took us back to the same fishing area that I visited last time, but the target species had changed...

After a couple of months working in the laboratory and carrying out tests on small vessels the great day arrives. I am to join a large industrial trawl vessel to try out the performance of the tori lines and the Tamini Tabla under commercial fishing conditions, and on exactly the kind of vessel this...

I’m telling you about my first at-sea experience as ATF Instructor on a freshie trawler (the catch is stored fresh on ice) departing from Mar del Plata in October 2009. During the first trip, about 5 days of work, I understood how to apply the at-sea protocol in my new job. I was very nervous before...

I have recently returned from sea and I would like to share the experience I had on a coastal trawler. Last Friday I was waiting for the call from the skipper of the Don Domingo to allow me to test some innovations on our ‘ surfboard ’ design (our special device that helps keep tori lines...