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I have just returned from a very exciting and fun-filled few days in Sedgefield and Mossel Bay. For those of you not from South Africa, these towns are located along our east coast, and apparently Mossel Bay has the second best climate in the world! My colleague and I took a comfortable 5-hour drive...
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During the last few weeks, we have been working on-shore on a variety of tasks including activities with fishers, fishing companies and governmental representatives. After two trips on the Sirius III, a 60 metre 'fresh' trawler (which keeps its catch on ice), we have been arranging a trip on...
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During the last few weeks, we have been working onshore on a variety of activities with individual fishermen, fishing companies and governmental representatives. Following two trips on the Sirius III, a 60-metre 'fresh' trawler (which keeps the catch on ice), we have been arranging a trip on...
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I have been on dry land! The whole Albatross Task Force team in Chile - that's Dr Carlos Moreno, Rodrigo, Humberto, Oli and myself - have been working closely together. We don't often get this chance as we are based in different locations in Chile. We got together to meet the industrial sword...
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We have arrived in the summer months of December and January and typically the pelagic longline vessels stop their activities and the crew take a well-earned rest. This period lasts until the end of February and in some cases extends to mid-March. During this time, I have taken the opportunity to meet...
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I usually write a diary after a sea trip but this time I had a different kind of trip. I have just returned from South America where I spent seven weeks in one of the most exciting places I've ever seen. The original purpose of this trip was to attend the International Fishing Forum which was held...
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It has not been an easy haul to get back out to sea again. Fisheries are in limbo at the moment, as new permits are still to be issued in the hake longline fishery. That means 'in' with some new rights-holders and skippers, and 'out' with some old guys. At the same time, prices (driven...
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Barry and I spend the next few days working on the brochure, and visiting various contacts in the trawler industry. The Task Force team have recently started looking at the Namibian fishery, and Barry introduces me to the head of the largest trawler company up there. Meanwhile, the chances of getting...
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So, plan B. I pick up the hire car that afternoon and head straight for Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, a wonderful collection of southern Africa's plant species in a beautiful location overlooking the broad suburbs of eastern Cape Town. Within an hour, I've seen my first new species - African...
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Today started grey and early, shimmering gloom but the forecast was good. Patches of clearing, glimpsed and snatched away again, but leaving a little more behind at each clearing. The Zodiac scrunched against the rock of Saddle Island; a strong swell but we scrabbled ashore on wet, slithery rocks. Climbed...
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On this trip, we've anchored off several whaling stations, including a memorable night fleeing a storm at Prince Olav Harbour. A dark, heavy day with the rain driving down and a howling, barking, yelping cacophony of the fur seals who have taken over the rusting remains of this short-lived whaling...
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Some time back, I was asked if I was interested in attending a trawl mitigation workshop in New Zealand. My response: is the Pope a Catholic? With sponsorship from consultants Deepwater Group, I was winging my way to the Southern Seabirds Solution workshop in Nelson with Barrie Rose (I&J). We spent...
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As the co-ordinator of the Projeto Albatroz seabird observation programme, it was with great honour that I accepted a role as an Albatross Task Force Member and to work towards saving seabirds in Brazilian waters. On Monday (11 September), my first AFT Field Instructor activities began. With the arrival...
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This week I am back on dry land. The last trip was tiring as we ended up staying out at sea a week longer than we anticipated as in the first week the tuna catch was so low that the skipper decided they needed to stay out until they had caught enough fish. The second week, in just one day, we caught...
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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...