I am waiting for a trip on a longline vessel, heading off next week to Ushuaia to kick start the investigation into the longline fishery to reduce the bycatch of seabirds by implementing mitigation measures. In this case I have the job of trying out the efficiency of a tori (bird-scaring) line onboard a vessel that is targeting toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides.
The investigation is taking place thanks to collaborators from the National Fishery Development Institute (INIDEP) who formed an agreement with Aves Argentinas, the organisation that hosts the ATF in Argentina.
In my country the national government declared the obligatory use of mitigation measures in longline fisheries which will, once implemented, rapidly reduce seabird mortality.
Such mitigation measures include line weighting (in this case integrated line weighting), tori lines, and night setting (see BirdLife Mitigation Fact Sheets for more information on best practice mitigation measures).
We started off with a tori line production assembly line, finding the best materials within the available budget and designing an appropriate line design for demersal longline fishing. We tried this design out onboard small coastal vessels (see photo, right) from Necochea, where I am based. Then we made some modifications and we are now ready to test this model within the regime of a strict experimental at-sea investigation.
The trip that I am about to embark on will be fishing close to Isla de los Estados, not far from Cape Horn where the weather is known to be particularly gruesome with strong winds and huge swells. The trip should last about two months, especially as toothfish catches have not been as abundant recently.
I am pretty anxious to get going, also nervous as I have never been at-sea so far south before. I am looking forward to work ina fishery that really interests me, where various measures can be put in place to save the albatross. This gives me a real sense of happiness.
For this reason I am pumped with adrenaline and with all the will in the world to contribute a big part to the conservation of these wonderful species.
Between the 24th and 27th January 2011, I had the opportunity to take part in a workshop organised by the Chilean Environment Ministry to evaluate conservation actions for the Pink-footed shearwater Puffinus creatopus under the mark of the Agreement for Environmental Cooperation between Chile and Canada.
The workshop took place on Isla Mocha (38°23’S, 73°52’W), an island that is of great importance as it is not only the island with the largest breeding colony of Pink-footed shearwaters but also one of only two known breeding sites for this species (the other is also in Chile, in the Juan Fernandez archipelago).
The Pink-footed shearwater is a migratory seabird, dispersing along the eastern Pacific seaboard in both hemispheres, reaching as far as the coast of Canada in the north, where it over-winters.
Currently, this species is under threat as much at its breeding colonies as at-sea and is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. On Isla Mocha depredation by introduced mammals (mainly rats and cats) and the loss of habitat are the principle threats. At-sea (in this case in Chilean waters) bycatch in purse seine fishing nets and on longline hooks are the most likely risk to the species.
During the workshop I represented the Chilean ATF team. Our participation was centred on presenting the known information relevant to large mortality events for the Sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus and the Pink-footed shearwater in Chile. Such events have been recorded over the past two years when large numbers of these species have been found washed up on beaches in the central-southern zone in Chile (close to Isla Mocha).
The mortality of these species, at least in some cases, has included over a thousand animals and has been well documented by the press generating the attention of conservationists, biologist and the authorities involved in marine science.
The hypothesis is that artisanal purse-seine fisheries are responsible for these mortality events as the fishery is concentrated around the ports of Talcahuano (36°43’S, 73°06’W) and Corral (39°53’S, 73’25’W). Despite various statements from local fishers and scientific observers that support this suspicion, there is no official observer programme in place to monitor the fleets in question and their interaction with seabirds, which would provide the necessary information to describe and potentially mitigate the problem.
Therefore ATF Chile is including a monitoring programme within our 2011 work plan to record the interaction between this artisanal fishery and vulnerable seabirds. We hope to provide the first systematic and quantitative review of the issue. To do so, our first job is to contact and arrange at-sea trips through the local fishing companies to obtain coverage of the fishery across the seasons, especially the austral summer during the reproductive phase of the species.
Some of our first contacts and efforts to undertake this work was my visit to the workshop on Isla Mocha. Such multidisciplinary collaboration between different conservation institutions, national and international scientists and ornithologists, NGOs and the community of Isla Mocha are fundamental in advancing conservation initiatives. ATF has therefore contributed the first grain of support for this cause, but we have a long way to go!!