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Back in July, we set sail from the port of Coquimbo in Chile with the challenge of studying mitigation measure design and the associated reduction of seabird bycatch. Historically, bycatch has been particularly high on the vessel that I have now joined for the next three months. This has been due, we...
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I’ve just returned from sea, it was a hard trip, but with a lot of positive energy and interesting results! We are currently working on a mitigation experiment that makes every trip a huge challenge. Each time we meet the challenge we are filled with motivation and enthusiasm to keep going and...
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Seabirds, and other marine wildlife species, have been in the news this week. Firstly albatrosses came under the spotlight thanks to top level talks on tuna fishing and its impact on seabirds . Scientists gathered in Brazil on Monday to agree fishing quotas in the Atlantic. RSPB marine conservationist...
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Hello everybody! I have just returned from my first cruise leaving from the port of Rio Grande. I already knew the skipper, Mr. Celso, as he has helped us with the conservation of albatrosses in the past. But he has just changed boat to smaller one, and this new one did not have a tori line installed...
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In the first Albatross Task Force workshop held in Chile early this year, all teams committed to conducting research to improve mitigation measure performance and thus further reduce seabird bycatch levels. The South African team has committed to two experiments; one in the trawl fishery which you can...
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In the first six months of the fishing season, I have mainly been focussed on getting the mitigation research plan up and running for the pelagic longline fishery. This fleet targets swordfish from the port of Coquimbo and currently includes seven vessels. The research plan has the comparison of two...
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During the fourth week of my most recent trip we arrived at the southernmost point of the journey, just 130 km from the Isla de los Estados and the famous lighthouse at the end of the world! As we moved slowly back north, due of low catches in the south, I started testing our trawl mitigation measures;...
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I was recently invited by the International School to give a talk to their students about my work - a brilliant opportunity as many of the kids have parents involved in the fishing industry. In fact, my invitation came about because two of the senior students had done a project about a year ago on seabird...
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It's a great pleasure for me to tell you what is going on in Namibia at the moment, especially on the side of the longline fleet. Since February 2009 I have been organising a trip with one of the hake longline vessels so that we can get a better idea of the contact this fleet has with seabirds. I...
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Hello companions, it is with great satisfaction that I'm sharing with you my activities. As Martin Abreu, an Albatross Task Force member working in Brazil, said recently, we are at such an 'important moment'. The Brazilian and Uruguay Albatross Task Forces are working together so we can find...
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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...
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I met my room mates during the first days of the trip: Héctor, the second official (he sails the vessel in the night) and Juan, the first mechanic, one of the persons in charge of the engine room. The crew was composed by six officials, three cooks, four technical personnel, one nurse, 24 sailors...
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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...
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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...
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Here in Brazil we have an expression: 'When everything starts well, it will also finish well!' In our latest mission, the Projeto Albatroz staff and I embarked ATF Coordinator Oli Yates in a longline vessel to test and demonstrate two ‘tori line’ techniques to prevent albatrosses...