Blogs

We have been operating for a year now and have a made some progress on getting a handle on what is happening in the Namibian hake trawl fishery. I have not been out to sea recently, but am hoping to rectify this soon as the office becomes tedious compared to life at-sea! 2009 got off to a brilliant start...

For albatrosses there are no frontiers, and neither for the ATF During the Albatross Task Force's early history and until now we couldn't have a meeting to discuss the mitigation measures and the best strategies to reach the main goal which is save the seabirds. It was therefore amazing to hold...

Hi everybody. My name is John Paterson and I am the first Albatross Task Force Instructor to be based in Namibia. I have been tasked to work with the hake trawl fishery in Namibia and a second Instructor is to be recruited to work with the hake longline fishery. This is all new and exciting for...

I have been meeting people and filling up my brain with lots of info in readiness for my new task. I can say that I understand the fishing industries and their impacts on seabirds better. I have learned more about the important fishing areas in Chile, the different fishing techniques used for the different...

My God... let me tell you that this is not an easy job... it really is not, but it must be done with courage, persistence and with good heart. I persist with the local fishermen and captains in order to instruct them why they should adopt the tori lines and the other mitigation measures. It is hard...

We have 75 confirmed attendees for the hake longline workshop this week, which includes boat owners, skippers, crew and representatives from Marine and Coastal Management. I’m looking forward to building a relationship with this group. Currently, this type of longline sinks very slowly, and the...