Richard's Bay
Over the last eight months I’ve been working off Richard's Bay, in the east coast of South Africa, collecting more data for the Albatross Task Force (ATF) research project which is seeking to determine how adding weight to the fishing line effects the catch rates of target fish species.
The data so far shows that there is no difference between normal fishing lines and the modified lines we have added extra weight to. This means that we can add weight to fishing lines to reduce seabird mortality without effecting the efficiency of the fishing operation. While we require more data before we make a decisive statement about our results, this is already an important step toward improved line weighting in longline fisheries.
Relocating to Richards Bay, 2,000 km from Cape Town, wasn’t an easy task but thanks to all my new friends there it has been a great experience which I will forever remember. Most of the at-sea trips were onboard the Ryoei, skippered by Jacques de Kock, a good friend who proved to have very sharp eyes as together we spotted two special birds; a Masked Booby and a Swinhoe’s Storm Petrel. These two birds caused great excitement amongst the local seabird community as they have never been recorded in South African waters before. Jacques is also committed to help continuing collecting data on his boat after my departure and assisting Tshickana who is stepping into my shoes and taking my place on the South African Task Force team. Thanks Jacques!!
Open sea to the dry desert
Five years ago I saw my first albatross during my first fishing trip. It was also on this fishing trip that I brought back 15 dead albatrosses. Since then I have been lucky enough to stay involved in the work that is preventing this unnecessary seabird mortality from happening. I have been a member of the ATF since its formation in 2006 and have put my heart and soul onto our work here in South Africa.
However, this is going to be my last diary entry as I’m leaving South Africa and going back to my homeland, Israel. It is very sad for me to leave. It has been a privilege to work with exceptionally wonderful people, both colleagues and fishermen; most of them I know will be life-long friends. All with whom I share my passion for the wonderful marine environment and especially the seabirds.
I am leaving with great optimism for the future of the albatrosses. I know there is a group of excellent people busy securing the future of these birds. I am also leaving South Africa with a great satisfaction knowing that in just 5 years of hard work we managed to decrease the seabird deaths in the local Pelagic Longline fleet by 85%. The South African government is extremely active and committed to the cause and I hope that things continue to be like that.
My heart will always be with the ATF. Albatrosses will always be my favourite creatures and the oceans my favourite of all the world's blue. I am going to undertake a very exciting and challenging project in Israel which will see me continuing to work for the conservation of birds, this time the desert birds. Quite a change from the wet, cold, blue seas but come to think about it the two are very similar in so many ways and both are close to my heart so very much. I hope that I will be able to take everything I learned here and implement it for the benefit of the desert birds that also need some care.
Thank you to all the fans of the albatross for all your continued support. Thank you to all my colleagues and friends from South America and Africa for sharing the task and especially thank you to Oli, Ben and Samantha for mentoring and stimulating me, patiently listening and wisely advising during all this time. For giving me this rare opportunity to be involved in a beautiful project I will always be grateful. But mostly thanks for being good friends. I will never forget that!
All the best,
Meidad Goren