Blogs

In my most recent trip to sea, we set off for a period of eleven days from the port of La Paloma, located on the east coast of Uruguay. We had already partaken in various trips on this vessel, and so the crew already knew us well and they were happy to collaborate with our work again. We now have a much...

Unfortunately seabirds caught as byctach in pelagic longline fisheries are generally only brought onboard once they are already dead (they are hooked and drown during the set when lines sink into the water). In Uruguay birds killed at sea are returned to the laboratory for analysis. By doing so we can...

We are at an important moment for the team. Finding a bird-scaring line design for the Uruguayan fleet that works for their operations has been a worry for us since we started. We have been working to try and raise awareness of the seabird issue with them and developing ideas to stop the mortality of...

My most recent trip lasted 24 days, many of which we suffered some bad weather. The fishing master was targeting big eye tuna and sharks. As for seabirds, we had 17 species around the vessels as we worked and a single black-browed albatross was hooked during the haul. Lines were set on 11 days during...

I recently returned from my trip on the Astra 1 after 15 days at sea, but we were only able to fish for eight due to poor weather conditions. The target species for this vessel was yellow-fin tuna and during fishing operations we had around 20 species of seabird joining us. Six seabirds were caught...

I was recently aboard a 30-metre long Uruguayan longline vessel targeting swordfish for 14 days. Due to bad weather, it was only possible to fish for seven of those days. During the first set of the fishing lines, a bird-scaring line was used to help prevent seabird bycatch. Unfortunately, the bird...

I spent time at sea for my first trip as an instructor onboard a 35 m longline vessel. The trip was short, lasting just eight days, so we only managed to set three lines before returning to port. During my time onboard, I discussed the need to reduce the access of the seabirds to the baited hooks while...