I just got back from a trip on a South African longliner that targets swordfish and tuna. The trip was two and a half weeks long and took place off the west coast of South Africa.
Five albatrosses were accidentally caught on the longline. Four of them were dead, as they were caught while the vessel was putting out the baited line and will have drowned as the hooks sank.
The other was an Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross that was hooked in his wing during the hauling in of the line and this one was released alive. We also caught and released a leatherback turtle and a female Cape fur seal.
We tried two different Tori lines (streamers) and together with the crew came up with some ideas of how to reduce the bird catch, especially on the full moon nights (the period when all the dead birds were caught).
We also looked at how to prevent the Tori from getting entangled with the longline, which is the main problem for these fishermen. Two of the birds were caught the same day the Tori broke (only a couple of hours later), which shows how effective these streamers can be.
The crew was very helpful and I even appointed the Chief Engineer as a 'Bird Officer'! He will keep me informed on the bird bycatch on their next trips and bring me samples of any albatross that are accidentally caught.
I hope that now the crew has some new ideas and techniques, future trips will not catch so many albatrosses.