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! As Celso knows of the proposed mitigation measures, he has been setting the fishing gear late at night to avoid seabird bycatch.
Celso is a good captain, he is aware that by only using this measure there is still a risk of catching seabirds, so we are now helping him install a tori line on the new vessel.
As we were at sea for just nine days, it was a very short trip when compared it to typical pelagic longline trip. This is because Celso was aiming to get the fish to market as quickly as possible.
He also changed the fishing gear configuration; making the length of the hook lines and buoy lines longer. This helps catch fish at greater depths, targeting several species of tuna. This configuration also reduces the incidental capture of sea turtles, which is good for turtle conservation as they’re caught more often in shallower waters. As long as we can make sure we keep the lines correctly weighted, this change will not risk capture of seabirds.
Many seabirds followed the ship, including wandering albatrosses, giant petrels, yellow-nosed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, spectacled petrels, white-chinned petrels, fulmars and many storm petrels. With so many birds attending the vessel, our night setting regime clearly helped achieve a zero mortality count.
During the trip, we also encountered a family of orcas and a large group of dolphins! These are frequent visitors that we see off the coast of Brazil and always provide us with an exhilarating experience as we work on deck with the fishermen.
The sea was relatively calm, but as the boat was tiny, it felt like a storm! Although I regularly fell over on deck, it does not show inexperience, as despite their sea legs three fishermen also fell more than once in the slippery conditions! It is a good opportunity for me to emphasize that we are not in our natural environment at sea - we are always visitors, so we must respect it!
Finally guys, I hope I've shared some of my work experiences, which I am very positive and enthusiastic about!
Let’s keep saving the birds! Until next time…
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 read in Bronwyn’s diary and one in the pelagic longline fishery which is the one I’m busy doing.
Last year we tested the newly developed Safe Leads. These are specially designed replacements for normal lead swivels. Lead swivels have been known to cause terrible injuries to fishermen and the Safe Leads can prevent that happening and save birds too!
They add weight to the line and therefore increase the sink rate of hooks, which limits the time that bait is available for albatrosses. By using a tori line at the same time, fishermen can avoid killing birds and stay safe. In order to be able to recommend the use of Safe Leads we need to prove that it doesn’t negatively impact the catch rates of fish.
A local longline vessel; Admiral De Ruiter agreed to accommodate me to conduct the research. It took quite a while to get everything ready but by the end of July we made our first trip. Conducting research at sea is not a simple task! It is highly important that the crew understand what I’m doing, so while we steamed to the fishing grounds I got them all together and explained about the study.
This was my fifth trip onboard this vessel so the guys knew me and were used to the ‘weird’ stuff I do to save albatrosses. The crew were very cooperative and without their help I wouldn’t be able to do this work. Unfortunately, the fishing was not very good. The second trip was even worse; we caught less fish and had to come back early due to a mechanical problem; the steering system broke and we had to manoeuvre the vessel by hand!! My job was to shout ‘port’, ‘starboard’ or ‘mid ship’ whenever the vessel was out of course.
This weekend we’re going to try again and I sincerely hope that this time the fish will decide to bite the bait so we can get some of the experimental data we need!
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 bird-scaring line designs as its main objective, whilst at the same time we are taking the opportunity to get the fishermen used to these newly improved devices in all their fishing operations.
We are carrying out this work together with scientific observers from the Chilean Fishery Institute (IFOP). They are responsible for the monitoring the fisheries along the length of the Chilean coast. We have had total support from the fishermen and the professional approach from the observers gives us a lot of confidence about the quality of the information we are collecting.
I have just got back from a meeting with the observer who will work onboard the FV Vama II, a fishing vessel that has had few fishing trips this year but appears to be ready to head to the high seas.
My work has consisted in preparing the observers with the seabird protocols designed for the experiments and onboard observations, sorting the forms and equipment necessary to complete the work. Our work is based on the design used by Washington Sea Grant for the Alaskan fishery in the North Pacific.
My time has also been spent with the captains and crew in the port, which has been really important to ensure the officials and managers of the observers in Valparaiso are kept in touch with our movements in Coquimbo. This has mainly involved meetings and the preparation of agreements between us to help keep a collaborative momentum in Chile.
It is important to highlight that the collaborative work between the Albatross Task Force and IFOP has generated a mutual interest in creating a strategic alliance. This will not just work with mitigation aboard vessels in the pelagic fleet but also with other fleets that may present levels of seabird bycatch along the lengthy coastline of Chile.
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; these are designed to keep seabirds away from the danger zone between the trawl warp cables (the cables that hold the net) and the vessel. Testing them is a crucial part of our work as we can compare seabird interactions during the use of mitigation measures against normal fishing operations without these measures.
This is where the offal discards are dumped, attracting albatrosses looking for an easy meal. The problem is that as the cables cut through the water during a trawl, they can push foraging seabirds under the water, or break their wings. Simple mitigation measures can stop this occurring.
I used a tori line for this first test; 25m of rope tied to the stern with an orange buoy at the end and several pairs of orange streamers tied to the rope. These dangle down, scaring the seabirds. The first tests went well: no birds collided with the cables, whereas more than 10 heavy impacts every 30 minutes were recorded without a tori line.
However, in the strong winds of the southern seas I recognised a problem; as the tori line is at the surface, it is subject to buffeting from the wind and waves. These push the tori line in the opposite direction to the cables and they can become entangled. Entanglements can lead to a reduced effectiveness of the tori line and be problematic for the crew.
In order to avoid entanglements, I designed a device using equipment aboard the vessel. With the help of the crew and the ship’s tools, we made a kind of surfboard.
We called this prototype The surfboard. I added this to the tori line to keep it from tangling with the cables. With this simple device the toriline tended to steer away from the cables as the boat moved forward and thus reduced any potential entanglements whilst still keeping seabirds away from the danger area.
After this preliminary testing of The surfboard I found that it works! Eureka! The tori line with the surfboard was separated from the cables. We will continue testing this and refining the mitigation throughout the year, so watch this space!