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...

Last month I returned from my most recent trip, this time aboard on the FV Maria , the same longliner that I had worked with last winter. We spent 19 days at sea and conducted 15 longline sets. In order to minimize seabird interactions all these sets were performed with a tori line deployed and were...

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...

Without doubt, the albatross are one of the groups of seabirds that need our greatest conservation effort. Commercial fisheries, through incidental capture, have generated a huge impact in many populations and almost all the species are currently in danger of extinction. As they spend the main part of...

For many of us the recurring theme of the enormous accumulation of waste caused by human activities is a great concern. Through the ebb and flow of our daily lives, we discard large volumes of both solid and liquid waste products. Indeed, the current rate of consumption of biosphere resources means...

Hi Morsey Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum. We fully understand your concerns and we are involved with the review process and will be doing all we can to ensure the legal protection status of these species is not weakened. Please be aware that a national cull is not being discussed...

Arriving at night to the trawl fishing vessel, Bonn, I took began my first sea trip with ATF - Chile. The next day amongst the unforgettable roll of the sea, I immediately set to work as the fishing operation started, as demands our role as ATF Instructors. As I began I reflected that this work goes...

Between the 24 th and 27 th January 2011, I had the opportunity to take part in a workshop organised by the Chilean Environment Ministry to evaluate conservation actions for the Pink-footed shearwater Puffinus creatopus under the mark of the Agreement for Environmental Cooperation between Chile...

Hello There are a number of things you can do to protect fisheries from cormorants using non-lethal measures. Cormorants are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which means it is only legal to use lethal measures of control if you have been granted a speciifc license from the government...

Richard's Bay Over the last eight months I’ve been working off Richard's Bay, in the east coast of South Africa, collecting more data for the Albatross Task Force (ATF) research project which is seeking to determine how adding weight to the fishing line effects the catch rates of...

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...