The last trip I went on was from Puerto Madryn, in the South of Argentina. The crew was completely new to me, as is often the case when you visit a new port, but they all knew Leo Tamini so they were quite aware of what my work involved. This is great as I was received warmly and allowed to carry on with complete liberty onboard.
The trip got off to the usual start, getting to know the crew and the vessel, the best places to work and the dangers that should be avoided. I noticed at once that there was a lot of seabird activity. The Southern Royal albatross were present in large quantities as were the Grey-headed albatross which I don’t see as often in the north.
During my observation of seabird interaction with the vessel I recorded a lot of heavy impacts and many birds suffered injuries. From my observation effort, ten birds were killed on this trip alone. One of these was one of the Southern Royals.
At this time of year the strong winds and snow that blow from the south make our work much more complicated. I remember one night we had a full-on snow storm. The crew had just finished working; I was on the bridge recording the trawl information and having a coffee with the captain, when all of a sudden gusts of wind threw a storm of Cape petrels against the side of the vessel. These birds hit the bridge and fell in shock on the deck of the vessel, and there were loads of them. I had recently changed from my outdoor clothes into some more comfortable gear to sleep in, including my slippers!
I had to grab my thick coat and in my slippers dashed out to the deck where I gathered up around 40 Cape petrels! Imagine what the rest of the crew must have thought, laughing uncontrollably at me – the ridiculous ornithologist in his slippers! It was pretty funny, and it didn’t bother me whilst I hurried to help the petrels back to the sea. On deck they would have been covered in grease and dirt which does nothing for their carefully preened feathers which keep them safe from the intense storms in the south of Argentina.
As I worked, several of the crew recovered enough from their laughter to come and help me. I explained (in my slippers) how to hold the birds correctly and liberate them without causing them harm. They were surprised as they thought that surely the birds would prefer to be onboard during a storm. For their help I handed them warm hats from Aves Argentinas as a reward.
Although my slippers will never be the same again, we helped the Cape petrels and the guys on deck learned some important bird-handling techniques.
A couple of days ago both Nahuel Chavez and I set out on a coastal trawler from the port of Necochea. Our intention was to try out our new tori line that we have built for the few longline vessels that operate in Argentina, and also to test the latest model of the Tamini Tabla (first called the Surf Board) for the large trawlers.
We steamed out of port at 0930 with good weather predicted on the forecast, which can sometimes fall short of complete accuracy… as we left the security of the calm waters in the port we realised that this was one of those days. Large waves washed over us, reaching over two metres high and our vessel was only twelve meters in total! However, we only needed to steam out for a few hundred metres to find deep enough water to test the gear so at 1030 we started work. Even though we had only steamed a short distance we were amongst the albatross, with quite a few Black-browed albatross accompanying the vessel all day.
Our intention was to test how mush area our new tori line would be able to protect – how light was the design and how well would it fly behind vessels at different speeds with different towed objects for tension. We had 150 metres of tori line so the buoys and the Tamini Tabla had a tough job to do if we were to generate good height and tension.
The results were really promising! The tori line functioned better than we had hoped with 80 to 85 meters aerial extension (the part that is effective in preventing seabird deaths) despite the strong winds and heavy seas we had that day. More over, conversations with the fishing crew lead to some interesting ideas that we would be able to incorporate into the tori line and Tamini Tabla design. Such discussions are always productive and never fail to be a positive influence on our work.
Our work on the smaller vessels, although not our target audience, is important to facilitate the development of adequate materials for mitigation measures and design tweaks. If we tried to do this at-sea on the industrial vessels it would be complicated as once you are on there is no chance of returning to pick up an alternative material – you are stuck there for 60 days!
Along with discussions with other ATF instructors, our work on small vessels helps us to develop the very best quality materials for use in different fisheries and ultimately design mitigation measures that are as practical and functional as possible. This makes them more attractive as an option for individual fishermen and the entire fleet.
That’s how we work in the Task Force!
This was my first trip on a trawl vessel in Chile, with a fleet that targets common hake. We set off from the San Vincent port in the central southern part of Chile (around Latitude 36°S). The vessel is an industrial trawler and is pretty large, measuring 60 m which is much larger than the smaller swordfish vessels I am used to. Despite the size, I was surprised to see the ease with which the skipper perfectly manoeuvred ship away from the harbour, as if he was pulling out of a parking space in a car. This was especially impressive as there were several other vessels all at close quarter.
By eleven o’clock in the evening we had reached the middle of the Golf of Arauco and were heading north east to the fishing zone. I was given a private cabin from a crew member who was on leave, so I was quite comfortable. The first days are always tough as you get used to the movement of the vessel, I turned in to sleep before the first day trawling.
I awoke to heavy activity as the captain took the vessel through four trawls each lasting three or four hours. The crew were enthusiastic and there was generally a good atmosphere onboard. I took my time to get used to the routine and worked out the best and safest location for the seabird abundance surveys whilst I appreciated the calm seas and warm sun.
The fishing started well, and the crew explained how they would take two turns, night and day to process the catch. At the end of the afternoon they changed the gear so that they could fish mid-water trawls during the evening. In general this is heavy work and requires a larger crew than the swordfish vessels. I kept meeting people I had never seen before on the vessel!
As the days rolled by I noticed how calm the crew were, no doubt pleased with the good catches. After a couple of days the sea began to swell and the wind picked up. This weather seemed to mimic the growing nerves as Chile played in the world cup that day!
My work onboard is complicated due to the amount of machinery at the aft of the vessel, so I quickly became used to the dirty greasy conditions that made up my observation platform. This spot gave me a great view of the zone immediately aft of the vessel, so although filthy it was in some regards ideal.
The quantity of pelicans was incredible (I have never seen so many), the various gulls, black-browed albatross and a few Salvin’s were pushed back due to the overpowering presence of the pelicans. As Chile has a narrow continental shelf, the trawl fishery operates close enough to shore that the pelicans easily reach the vessels.
Despite the fact that the trawl cables are relatively low to the wáter, I still observed various impacts between the birds and the fishing gear. These were mainly with pelicans though, which were everywhere! The fishing was excellent and the factory was discarding the remains of the fish processing which poured out into the water. The pelicans were going crazy to scoop it up as the vessel lurched forwards slowly into the swell.
Once the crew had filled 9,000 fish boxes, the ship’s hold reached full capacity and the captain steered us toward the port. We left the fishing zone around midnight and steamed into port during a beautiful sunrise over San Vincente.
Hello Albatross supporters!
A lot has happened since my last diary entry. As I mentioned in some of my previous entries the highest priority of the South African longline team for 2010 is to determine the effect using extra weight on fishing gear has on the catch rate of tuna and swordfish. We hope to submit the results of the study to next years ACAP (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels) meeting. By adding weight to the line we can limit the time that baited hooks are accessible to seabirds during the fishing operation. This is one of the most effective ways of reducing seabird mortality in longline fishing.
I started with the project last year onboard a South African longline vessel. It wasn’t an easy experiment to handle at-sea but when we eventually we got it right the owners, for financial reasons, decided not to continue using the vessel for this fishery… I was suddenly in a real jam! Luckily, a fishing captain and good friend, Jaques, has offered to use his vessel instead. The only problem was that he lives and operates off Richards Bay – 2000 km away from Cape Town!
In order to do the research I will need to conduct a series of trips which means staying there and so leaving my home in Cape Town. We decided to go for it. The logistics of such a move are not that simple but we managed it. So, I found myself leaving home, packing my little car and driving through the famous ‘Garden Route’, the road which crosses South Africa from west to east via the beautiful southern coast. I took my time and enjoyed the ride while also visiting some important conversation projects.
The first stop was at Napier, a little town in the Overberg. My friend Odette works with farmers in order to try and save the endangered Renosterveld; an endemic habitat and home for many endemic and rare plant species. In a way we are doing similar jobs; trying to save species through working with the farmers/fishermen to ensure conservation practices are carried out correctly. From there I drove to Port Elizabeth, the ‘friendly city’ to visit Lorien and Lloyd, who are studying the effect of closing fishing grounds on the foraging behaviour of the African Penguin. This species is in a serious problem, suffering dramatic population declines over the last few years.
Arriving in Richard’s Bay, Jacques and his family generously offered me a room at their place until I find my own accommodation. We immediately started the preparations for the first trip. As I write these lines I’m at sea, out on my first research trip off Richards Bay. The crew is amazingly helpful and skilful which makes my life much easier. If all goes well I will spend most of my time here at sea, which is great. The bird life here is not as rich as in Cape Town but since we are much closer to the tropics different birds appear which for me is very exciting. A Greater Frigatebird escorted us for the last 3 days and even a Light-mantled Sooty albatross stayed around for a few minutes.
I’ll keep you posted on the progress, Meidad