AALLBBAATTRROOSSSS TTAASSKK FFOORRCCEE

Team Highlights, June 2015

- 1 -

- 2 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE

Team Highlights, June 2015

Introduction

Spreading its wings, a wandering albatross unfolds a 3.5 m wingspan which enables it to soar above the

wild westerly winds of the southern ocean. These remarkable birds use extremely high-aspect-ratio wings

to enable them to travel vast distances, expending incredibly little energy to find food in a vast marine

landscape.

Unfortunately for the albatross, the development of large modern fishing vessels means the realm of the

albatross now overlaps with thousands of longline vessels, setting a billion hooks a year and considerably

more trawl vessels fishing year-round to feed a rapidly growing human population. It is estimated that

somewhere in the world, an albatross is hooked and drowned or mortally struck by trawl cables every five

minutes.

Since this problem was first identified in the late 80s and early 90s, a global effort has been made to develop

seabird bycatch mitigation measures to combat this unsustainable level of seabird mortality. A critical gap

between the development of measures, and the demonstration and adoption of these measures in key

fisheries throughout South America and southern Africa was recognised and The Royal Society for the

Protection of Birds (RSPB) and BirdLife International created the Albatross Task Force (ATF), an

international team of seabird bycatch mitigation experts.

The main objective of the Task Force is to reduce bycatch of albatross and petrels in targeted fisheries, and

ultimately to improve the conservation status of threatened seabirds.

Since the inception of the ATF with a single team in South Africa in 2006, the RSPB now supports trained

mitigation instructors in seven countries, employing 17 team members. The principal duties of the ATF

include identifying fisheries which pose the greatest risk to seabirds, and developing, demonstrating and

implementing best practice measures to reduce seabird bycatch to negligible levels. Our work consistently

results in clear demonstrations that seabird bycatch can be reduced by >90% once the right combination of

mitigation measures are deployed. Our first team in South Africa has led the field, with a multi-year study

reflecting a 99% reduction in albatross mortality in the trawl fishery. Other ATF teams, which began

operations in 2008, are now beginning to follow suit with the introduction of new regulations to protect

vulnerable seabirds in some of the world’s bycatch “hotspots”.

Our work would not be possible without the support of the RSPB membership, the David and Lucile

Packard Foundation, Volvo, Arrowgrass Capital Partners LLP, The Tilia Fund, Henry Kenner, David and

Christine Walmsley, Páramo Directional Clothing (shown on front cover) plus many generous private

sponsors and donors.

- 3 -

ARGENTINA

Aves Argentinas

Leo Tamini & Nahuel Chavez

Argentinean demersal trawl fishery

Target fisheries

In Argentina the ATF is working with three fleets: 33 large industrial trawlers which process and freeze the

catch on board; 60 trawl vessels which store fish on ice, and four industrial, mid-water trawlers. The main

target species are hake Merluccius hubsi, hoki Macruronus magellanicus and a range of associated demersal

(bottom) fish species. The main ports include Mar del Plata and Ushuaia.

Team progress

The Argentinean team completed 111 days at sea in 2014; including five trips totalling 51 days at sea on the

side-hauling on-ice vessels and a 60 day trip on one of the large industrial mid-water trawlers that targets

hoki from the world’s most southerly port city of Ushuaia. Meanwhile, the team continued with the

implementation of bird-scaring lines and the Tamini Tabla, a towed device developed by the ATF that

maintains the bird-scaring lines stable in Argentina’s persistently strong cross winds.

Side trawl fishery

During trips onboard the side-hauling vessels, the ATF team recorded regular seabird abundance and

diversity censuses, indicating that during hauling operations the side-hauling vessels attract an impressive

19 species of seabirds that feed on fish offal and discards from the ship’s factory. Of these birds, few were

observed to interact negatively with the fishing nets. This is in contrast to the high level of interactions we

discovered in previous years, which appears to be related to a window of high abundance of the migrating

great shearwaters in the austral summer months. A single black-browed albatross was observed killed on

the trawl cables.

Mid-water trawl fleet

Our first trips in the mid-water trawl fishery demonstrated that 17 species attend vessels and that there is a

high level of negative interactions particularly with vulnerable species of albatross. While our work in this

fishery is in the early stages of evaluation, our data suggests the southern royal albatross are at greatest

risk, followed by the southern giant petrel, black-browed albatross and northern royal albatross.

Interestingly, 93% of the seabird interactions in this fishery are not with the trawl net or trawl cables, but

with a third wire, or netsonde cable, which communicates trawl net parameters to monitoring equipment

on the bridge.

Implementing mitigation measures

Through a collaborative effort with a group of Argentinean institutes and NGOs, we successfully lobbied

for the adoption of a new fishery resolution to trial bird-scaring lines for a six-month period in the

industrial stern trawl fishery. To date, we have trained 40 observers in three workshops and there are

currently 10 vessels involved in the study, around 30% of the fleet! The strategy to train national observers

is an important step in the long-term sustainability of seabird conservation in Argentina, and has enabled

the ATF team to investigate the effectiveness of bird-scaring lines to reduce mortality caused by the third

wire on the mid-water trawlers.

- 4 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE: ARGENTINA

1.89 million km2 continental shelf

33 large industrial stern trawl vessels

13,500 black-browed albatross killed per year

45 observers trained in seabird conservation

Image: Black-browed albatross squabble for fishery discards at sea on the Patagonian shelf

Leo Tamini, Aves Argentinas

- 5 -

BRAZIL

Projeto Albatroz & SAVE Brasil

Tatiana Neves, Rodrigo Sant’Ana, Augusto Silva & André Santoro

Brazilian pelagic longline fishery

Target fisheries

The ATF team in Brazil is spread over two fishing ports: Itajaí and Rio Grande where they work with the

highly dynamic Brazilian industrial pelagic longline fleet which targets swordfish, tunas and sharks. At

present, the industrial fleet is composed of 72 wooden and steel hulled vessels, between 15 and 28 m total

length with at-sea autonomy of up to 30 days.

Team progress

There has been very positive progress in 2014 following a challenging period over the previous 12 months,

which was related to adoption of changes in fisheries regulation. The regulation required placement of a 60

g weight at no more than two metres from the hook. This divided opinion within the fleet, as those vessels

which used line weighting placed at up to 7 m from the hook believed this change would affect safety and

fishing efficiency. Additional fishery restrictions on target species created heightened tensions in ports, and

resulted in port closures.

Despite these difficulties, the ATF managed an impressive 172 days at sea over nine fishing trips in the

pelagic longline fleet, monitoring the effectiveness of bird-scaring lines and the new line weighting

configuration. Roughly a third of this effort was concentrated during the peak seabird abundance period in

the austral winter and even so, no seabirds were caught in this fishery with ATF instructors or hired

observers onboard.

Changing regulations

Because of the wide-spread industry rejection of the new fishery regulations, stakeholder discussions were

held in Brazil to determine alternatives. For the seabird conservation measures, this was a tense period as

we were concerned the measure would be weakened. However, thanks to the perseverance of the local

team via an astonishing 526 port visits, the new version of the regulation will match the Best Practice

recommendations agreed in the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels (ACAP),

requiring all vessels to use a bird-scaring line, a choice of three alternative line weighting regimes plus

obligatory night setting. The choice of line weighting appeases the fishing captains that opposed the stricter

rules, while the use of both night setting and bird-scaring lines ensures the seabird measure is not

weakened.

Evaluating the effect on seabirds

With the change in fishery regulations, and some strict enforcement in ports, there has been an increase in

uptake of the mitigation measures on vessels in the fleet. The ATF in Brazil has commenced an intensive

period of on-board monitoring that will continue throughout 2015 and into 2016 to monitor and quantify

the effectiveness of these new regulations. This monitoring will provide new data on the state of seabird

bycatch in Brazil and insights into the level of compliance with mitigation measures, which we will

compare with data collected from previous years to highlight where we need to focus future efforts.

- 6 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE: BRAZIL

72 pelagic longline vessels in the fleet

172 days at sea in the last year

526 port visits conducted with fishers

3 line weighting configuration options in new fishery regulation

Image: Brazilian longline fishery. Deck crew haul the gear at sea

Dimas Gianuca, Projeto Albatroz

- 7 -

CHILE

CODEFF

Luis Cabezas, Cristián Suazo & Juan-C. González

Demersal trawl and purse-seine fisheries

Target fisheries

The vast Chilean coast extends >2,600 miles from north to south, and covers a great range of marine

habitats. Because of this long coast, there are several regional fisheries and a diversity of gear types. The

fisheries the ATF team has been working with are the demersal trawl fleet based in the port city of

Talcahuano. In 2012 there were 21 fishing companies and 48 active vessels, primarily targeting hake.

Massive cuts in hake quotas left just two vessels active in 2014. The team is also working with the purse

seine fishery for sardine and anchovy with around 400 active vessels, and the gillnet fishery, which targets

a range of species along the coast using 7 – 10 m open wooden or fibre-glass boats.

Team progress

Demersal trawl fleet

The team has demonstrated that bird-scaring lines deployed during trawling operations are highly

effective at reducing seabird bycatch to negligible levels, but achieving the inclusion of the measure in

legislation has been stalled by bureaucratic delays. Not to be discouraged, the ATF in Chile has used this

time to perform training workshops for national observers, preparing them to record compliance of seabird

conservation measures, when they do come into force.

Purse seine fishery

This year has represented a special effort in the purse seine fishery as part of a joint initiative working in

collaboration with several national universities to identify the characteristics of small scale fisheries in

Chile. The ATF developed protocols and sampling designs plus performed a total of 41 trips on purse seine

vessels, with 63 days at sea and 78 fishing operations monitored. This provided a wealth of new

information for the fishery, which operates between Arica in the north of the country (~18 degrees south) to

Puerto Montt (~42 degrees south). We found a total bycatch of 53 birds, at a bycatch rate of 0.67 birds per

set; mainly Peruvian boobies, pelicans, pink-footed shearwaters and sooty shearwaters. Birds are killed by

diving down into the net to forage on the concentrated mass of sardine or anchovy, and becoming trapped

and drowning when surfacing under a “ceiling” of mesh. We have identified seabird bycatch ‘hotspots’,

and it is there that we are concentrating work to trial modified fishing nets that have a reduced area of

floating mesh, therefore minimising the risk of birds becoming entangled. The first experimental results are

promising, indicating a reduction in the bycatch of shearwaters while at the same time improving fishing

efficiency, a win-win situation for both industry and seabirds!

Gillnet fishery

The team has also conducted 85 trips on gillnet vessels monitoring a total of 170 sets from which we found

a total of 11 seabirds killed at a rate of 0.065 birds / set. Removing the coastal gillnet sets, where no bycatch

was recorded, revealed a bycatch rate of 0.333 birds / set for the surface set nets; mainly cormorants. This

provided us with a clear indication of where to focus our experimental work for mitigation measures!

- 8 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE: CHILE

2,600 miles of coastline

400 active purse seine vessels

0.67 birds per set killed in the purse seine fishery

170 sets monitored in the gillnet fishery

Image: Chilean gillnet fishery. Artisanal fishers haul the nets, recovering a dead guanay cormorant

Luis Ariel Cabezas, CODEFF

- 9 -

ECUADOR

Aves y Conservación

Jorge Samaniego & Robert Medina

Ecuadorian demersal longline, purse seine and gillnet fisheries

Target fisheries

The main focus of our work in Ecuador has been the demersal longline fishery which is made up of 27

small scale vessels, each of which sets around 350 – 650 hooks per set, 3-4 times a day. These vessels are

based in the port of Santa Rosa which is also home to around 1,500 other small scale vessels. With an

increased interest in the pink-footed shearwater bycatch, driven by our discovery that these birds are being

killed in Chilean purse seine fisheries, we attempted to identify the impact of other fisheries in Ecuador.

This has involved further collaboration with the surface gillnet fishery in Santa Rosa and the purse seine

fishery based in the ports of Libertad, Aconcito and Chanduy.

Team progress

As in previous years, we achieved a large number of at-sea trips in Ecuador thanks to a very positive

relationship with the fleet and authorities. We managed to complete 26 trips on vessels of the demersal

longline fleet, targeted to coincide with the waved albatross seasonal migration to the Ecuadorian and

Peruvian coast line. Despite this targeted effort, we again witnessed no seabird bycatch in the fishery. The

at-sea effort dedicated to the other fleets included a total of 37 days at-sea in the gillnet fishery and a

further 49 days at-sea in the purse seine fleet. While there were indications that a small number of birds

interacted with the fishing gear, there was no observation of seabird mortality in these fisheries.

Reduction of effort in Ecuador

Compared with the initial seabird bycatch levels, which were alarming, we have not recorded bycatch of

the Critically Endangered waved albatross, nor any other seabirds in Ecuador since 2010. In 2011 the ATF

began experimental trials to test the effect of improved line weighting on the seabird bycatch and fish catch

levels in the fishery. Our team was able to identify that an increased mass (double the standard 450 g

weights) of fishing weights significantly increased the sink rate of the baited hooks during setting

operations and had no negative impact on the fish catch. However, as we observed no birds caught on

either the double-mass weights or standard fishing gear we were unable to draw conclusions on the effect

of the increased line weighting on seabird bycatch. But given the greatly increased sink rate, we are

confident the impact would be positive. We have continued to monitor the fishery and our data suggests

seabird bycatch has dropped to negligible levels. This, we believe, is closely linked to a general evolution of

the fishing gear toward a greater mass of fishing weights per metre of line set compared to the fishing gear

configuration used when we initiated monitoring in 2010.

Due to the highly dynamic associated with this small scale fishery we have never claimed that this change

in gear configuration is due to our line weighting trials, although the coincidence is interesting! Having

continued the monitoring for several years now without observing further bycatch, we have taken the

decision to temporarily halt ATF operations in Ecuador. This will allow us to make the best possible use of

the limited conservation funds available in countries/fisheries where seabird bycatch is occurring at

elevated levels, while we maintain contact with the fleet in Ecuador.

- 10 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE: ECUADOR

1,500 small scale vessels in Santa Rosa port

650 hooks deployed per set

112 days at-sea monitoring the fleets

0 birds caught since 2010

Image: A waved albatross gorges itself on hake from the longline fishery in Ecuador

Robert Medina, Aves y Conservación

- 11 -

NAMIBIA

Namibian Nature Foundation &

Ministry of Marine Resource Management

Sarah Yates, Clemens Naomab & Kondja Amutenya

Namibian demersal longline and trawl fisheries

Target fisheries

Namibia’s desert coast flanks one of the most important marine production areas of the world, the

Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem. This system provides resources for a large and diverse range of

fish stokes. The Namibia hake fishery is one of the largest single-species fisheries in the world. In 2014, this

was exploited by over 70 industrial trawl vessels and a fleet of 13 demersal longline vessels. Most of these

vessels are owned by joint-license holders with partners from Spain. The vast majority of fishery landings

are exported to Europe, mainly Spain.

Team progress

In previous years we struggled with a lack of political will to drive change in the Namibian fisheries. We

have been persistent and determined in presenting a solid argument based on our at-sea data sets which

demonstrate Namibian fisheries as some of the most deadly in the world in terms of seabird bycatch. This

past year we finally achieved a major breakthrough! In August the Namibian ATF team and BirdLife

International representatives met with Fisheries Minister Bernhard Esau and Chief Fishery Scientist

Hannes Holtzhausen to discuss the scale of bycatch in Namibia and present recommendations to reduce

the impact on vulnerable species. The meeting swept aside the roadblocks we had been hitting and the

inclusion of mitigation measures in fishery regulations is being adopted, currently with the Ministry of

Justice for final adoption.

Implementing mitigation measures in Namibia

In the lead up to regulations, the ATF team has been making giant leaps toward our main objectives.

Through stakeholder workshops with the fishing industry, Fisheries Ministry and observer agency we have

identified some important steps necessary to support the implementation of the mitigation measures. These

include continued vessel-based demonstrations, and training workshops on seabird identification and

mitigation use for the national observers. Following our last implementation workshop in February, the

Namibian Hake Association announced it would ensure all vessels carry mitigation measures by the end of

the year!

So far, we have managed to provide practical demonstrations and install seabird bycatch mitigation

measures on 23% of the demersal trawl vessels – an increase of 13% since last year. For the demersal

longline fishery we have done even better; we now have bird scaring lines installed on 62% of the active

vessels, up from 25% this time last year.

Continuation of work in Namibia

We have a packed schedule; supplying the remaining vessels in both fleets with mitigation measures and

performing the at-sea trips required to ensure correct use of the measures and re-evaluate the seabird

bycatch level with mitigation measures in place. With two other important fisheries to investigate, there is

still a lot more to do.

- 12 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE: NAMIBIA

70 industrial stern trawl vessels in the fleet

13 active demersal longline vessels

23% voluntary use of mitigation on trawlers

1 new fishery regulation drafted

Image: A Namibian deck crew work the trawl nets at sea in the hake fishery

John Paterson, Namibia Nature Foundation

- 13 -

PERU

Pro Delphinus

Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto & Jeffrey Mangel

Peruvian demersal longline fishery

Target fisheries

Fisheries monitored off the Peruvian coast over the past year have included the driftnet fishery, which

targets a range of pelagic species like dolphin fish, rays and sharks; and the small scale gillnet fishery that

targets a diverse array of shallow water demersal species. The vessels are typically small, wooden-hulled

boats and set nets that can extend up to two kilometres in length and six to seven metres high. These

vessels have been monitored from San Jose in the north and Chorrillos just south of the capital Lima on the

southern coast.

Team progress

Monitoring effort

Bycatch of vulnerable species in Peru involves several taxa (i.e. marine turtles, seabirds, cetaceans and sea

horses) generally at a fairly low level compared to some of the industrial fleets that the ATF deals with in

other countries. However, this low-level chronic bycatch in small-scale fisheries requires a considerable

effort to monitor and record these events. This past year we have managed 39 trips, spread evenly

throughout the year. This included a total of 233 observed fishing sets.

Bycatch levels

Incidental mortality revealed from monitoring trips totalled 25 seabirds, becoming entangled at a rate of

0.107 birds / set. Twenty of the birds were entangled and drowned, whereas five were recovered in time to

be released alive. The most frequently killed birds in the driftnet fishery were white-chinned petrels,

accounting for 24% of all the seabird bycatch, while sooty shearwaters, pink-footed shearwaters and

Humboldt penguins were also killed in this fishing gear. We also recorded bycatch of other taxa, with four

species of small cetacean being caught at a rate of 0.171 individuals per set, but the highest levels of bycatch

was recorded for turtles, with over one hundred individuals killed, mainly the endangered green turtle.

Mitigation measures

Unfortunately, the mitigation trials we were planning to conduct in Peru, using net lighting to warn

vulnerable animals away from fishing gear, were frustrated by extremely poor weather conditions in the

north of the country, where participating fishers suffered boat damage in severe storms. However, a huge

effort conducting interviews across fishing communities in Peru (the team undertook 17 port visits and 419

interviews) is helping to identify where these trials may be effective in 2015/16.

Continuation of our programme in Peru

The low level of seabird bycatch recorded represents a chronic problem in Peru. A small number of

seabirds killed by each vessel will appear trivial to fishers and vessel owners, but when this bycatch is

scaled up across fleets with thousands of vessels, the impacts of the fishery is potentially catching much

higher numbers of birds than is apparent. This has been an important message that we are working hard to

explain to fishers and fisheries managers.

- 14 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE: PERU

233 fishing sets observed

24% of seabird bycatch was white-chinned petrels

4 species of cetaceans and >100 turtles caught in fishing nets

419 interviews conducted in fishing ports

Image: A pink-footed shearwater entangled in a drift net in Peru

Joanna Alfaro, ProDelphinus

- 15 -

SOUTH AFRICA

BirdLife South Africa

Ross Wanless, Bronwyn Maree, Christine Madden & Bokamoso Lebepe

South African trawl, demersal and pelagic longline fisheries

Target fisheries

Three fisheries have been monitored by our team in South Africa, the demersal trawl, demersal longline

and the pelagic longline fisheries. The pelagic longline fishery includes both domestic and foreign/joint-

venture fleets. The trawl fishery consists of about 35 active vessels (wet-fish and freezer included) which

target hake, mainly along the shelf edge. The pelagic longline fleet targets swordfish and tuna species. In

2014 the foreign fleet consisted of four active vessels, while the domestic fleet has about ten active vessels.

This was a major reduction in the foreign fleet, which had nine vessels in 2013.

Team progress

This year the team published a multi-year analysis demonstrating a reduction in seabird bycatch of 90%

and albatross bycatch of an incredible 99% in the demersal trawl fishery compared with levels prior to the

adoption of mitigation measures. This news brought significant national and international recognition for

the efforts of the South African team, with Team Leader Bronwyn Maree being chosen from 126 candidates

for a Future For Nature Award and a series of 52 television appearances, news articles and radio

interviews.

Demersal trawl fleet

The team continue to conduct trips aboard the trawl fleet as part of a long term monitoring plan, with 12

trips performed this year. These are used to ensure regular feedback and reinforcement of best practice use

of mitigation measures. This helps the development of individual Bird Mitigation Plans for each of the 15

classes of trawl vessel active in the fishery. These plans are periodically updated to ensure the sustainable

reduction of seabird mortality in this fishery.

Pelagic longline fleet

Our team deal with the domestic pelagic longline fleet separately from the joint-venture fleet, which has

foreign flagged vessels fishing under permit in South African waters. We work with the domestic vessels to

ensure they are maintaining efficient use of mitigation measures (line weighting and deployment of bird-

scaring lines). However, this past year we also performed three trips to trial Hook Pods, an emerging

mitigation measure which could provide a future alternative to the combination of three measures. The

joint-venture fleet has 100% observer coverage, so the ATF team monitors this fleet via briefing and de-

briefing captains and national observers and providing technical support when the seabird bycatch limit of

25 birds per vessel is exceeded. This was not necessary this year as all vessels have been deploying

mitigation measures as required, with an annual total of 83 birds caught at a catch rate of 0.068 birds / 1,000

hooks.

Future actions in South Africa

A sustainable reduction in seabird bycatch has been demonstrated in the trawl fishery, and the team are

working to create the same conditions in the other fisheries and playing an important supporting role in

monitoring and mitigation in the Asian vessels that fish in South African waters.

- 16 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE: SOUTH AFRICA

99% reduction in albatross bycatch

35 vessels in the trawl fleet

15 Bird Mitigation Plans

52 television appearances, news articles and radio interviews

Image: Twin bird-scaring lines prevent foraging birds from accessing trawl cables in South Africa

Bokamoso Lebepe, BirdLife South Africa

- 17 -

URUGUAY

Proyecto Albatros y Petreles & Aves Uruguay

Andrés Domingo, Sebastián Jiménez & Rodrigo Forsellado

Uruguayan pelagic longline and demersal trawl fisheries

Target fisheries

In recent years, our work in Uruguay has focused on the domestic pelagic longline fishery, although in the

past year this fleet has been largely inactive. The fleet targets swordfish, tunas and sharks and is expected

to resume fishing in 2015/16. The demersal trawl fishery, another fleet we are starting to work with is

composed of 27 vessels, which target hake in an area of common management with Argentina.

Pelagic longline fishery

As the fishery has been closed, the ATF in Uruguay conducted further experimental trials on board the

National Research vessel to test the sink rate of baited hooks under different line weighting strategies,

collecting critical information which is being collated in a review to be presented at the next Agreement on

the Conservation of Albatross and Petrel (ACAP) Seabird Bycatch Working Group meeting.

Demersal trawl fishery

This past year the team supported the development of the first assessment on the interaction of seabirds

with the Uruguayan demersal trawl fisheries. The team presented the initial results from this work to the

Sixth Meeting of the ACAP Seabird Bycatch Working Group that was held in Uruguay in September 2014.

The first phase of the project included observation of six trips and a total of 126 trawl sets. From this

observation effort, a total of 21 species were recorded to attend trawlers and 11 of these species interacted

with the trawl cables, with great shearwater, black-browed albatross, cape petrel, white-chinned petrel and

Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross being considered the most at risk. From 188.36 hours observing trawl

cables, 1,598 contacts (8.48 contacts per hour) were recorded, of which 229 were classed as heavy contacts.

34 birds were recorded as potentially suffering injuries that could lead to death a rate of 0.18 birds / hour, a

rate comparable with the South African fishery trawl fishery during the same season before mitigation

measures were introduced (0.17 birds / hour). Therefore the first results obtained suggest that the fishery

warrants further effort by the team to quantify the level of bycatch and work with government for the

prescription of mitigation measures.

National Plan of Action

An important step in Uruguay has been the review of the FAO National Plan of Action Seabirds to reduce

the seabird bycatch, which is now in draft form and awaiting formal adoption by the authorities. The ATF

team in Uruguay have provided input and support in the development and drafting of the new version

which will include improvements and best practice guidelines for the mitigation measures in the pelagic

longline fishery, covering both the national fleet and distant water fleets that fish in Uruguayan waters.

- 18 -

ALBATROSS TASK FORCE: URUGUAY

27 trawl vessels fishing

126 trawl sets monitored for seabird bycatch

1,598 collisions between seabirds and trawl cables

41 birds observed injured or killed

Image: Atlantic petrels and spectacled petrels forage discards from the Uruguayan pelagic longline fishery

Sebastian Jimenez, Proyeto del Albatros y Petreles - Uruguay

- 19 -

CONCLUSIONS

The Albatross Task Force is an international team of expert practitioners of seabird bycatch mitigation

measures, and is built on the foundations of a small but highly dedicated group of individuals supported

by the BirdLife International network of partners and local host conservation organisations. This year the

joint effort of the teams has racked up over 700 days at sea in 15 fisheries, across eight countries and two

continents. While on shore, the teams have managed a combined effort of 850 meetings, port visits and

outreach events reaching at least 13,800 fishery stakeholders, officials and members of the public to

generate a wider understanding and awareness of the urgent need to reduce the unsustainable incidental

capture of vulnerable seabirds.

Driving the adoption of regulations

One of our most challenging objectives is to support the adoption of new fishery regulations that make the

use of seabird bycatch mitigation measures obligatory. This critical task is only possible by working with

industry and government departments so that they understand and support the need for the inclusion of

new fishery regulations that require the adoption of best practice mitigation measures. The progress made

to date is a great indication of the application our teams have shown in this area, with regulations already

in place in South Africa; a very positive modification of the regulations in Brazil being passed; an exciting

step forward toward new regulations in both the longline and trawl fleets in Namibia plus the

development of the pilot project in Argentina. By generating local collaborations with government and

industry, the Task Force has demonstrated the practicality and efficiency of the measures, and backed this

with solid data collections as part of commercial fishing operations. The in-port support and awareness

campaigns provided by our instructors has meant the measures we have proposed have been generally

well received with few objections received, which bodes well for the final steps we need to take to have

regulations adopted in these countries in the coming year.

Linking our local achievements to a global issue

The Task Force teams are strategically placed to confront the issue of albatross bycatch in the national

fisheries of the host countries. However, the practical recommendations we develop through the work

conducted by the Task Force and the collaborative and inclusive model we have developed is relevant for

use in global fisheries, both in other countries and on the high seas. Through our work with distant water

fleets that target highly migratory pelagic resources like tuna and swordfish, we have created links with

Asian fisheries operating in ports where the Task Force is based. Through the BirdLife International Marine

Programme we have been supporting efforts to develop new port-based outreach in fisheries far from the

countries where we are active, such as initiatives beginning in the Indian Ocean with the Taiwanese fleet

and providing data collection protocols for the Korean observer programmes. An important opportunity

this year was a new collaboration with the Spanish distant water fleet, via a workshop held in the port of

Vigo, Galicia. The Spanish fleet is one of the most globally active fisheries with significant effort across both

hemispheres and the at-sea experience of the Task Force is supporting the way in which we are able to

develop a collaborative approach with the Spanish fleet.

Supporting innovative development

There is an existing, and proven suite of conservation measures that are very effective at reducing the

interaction between seabirds and fisheries. However, this doesn’t mean that there is not room for

improvement. There are several emerging mitigation measures, such as the Hook Pod, Sliding Leads,

- 20 -

Smart Hook and Setting Capsule which are all designed to provide alternative measures that sink baited

hooks rapidly out of the reach of foraging seabirds. The Albatross Task Force have continued to work with

emerging technologies that may provide even more effective solutions in the future, or complement the

options available to fishing industry to facilitate seabird-safe fishing operations no matter what the

conditions or situation. Making fishing safe and simple for crew is an important part of ensuring seabird

conservation measures are adopted and sustained in the long-term and innovative solutions require

independent testing in commercial conditions.

Future challenges

The focus of our work is to achieve sustainable reductions in ATF target longline and trawl fisheries.

Several years of at-sea experimental trials to test combinations of mitigation measures meant we could use

robust science to demonstrate to fishermen and fisheries managers the effectiveness and practical efficiency

of mitigation measures and provided a solid foundation that has paved the way toward achieving fishery

regulations, which are essential to achieving sustainable seabird bycatch reductions. There are still several

key steps to be taken with a wide range of fishery stakeholders in each country to achieve this goal, but the

last 12 months has put many of the essential building blocks in place. Additionally, we are uncovering

previously unknown threats to seabirds in fisheries that have never been investigated, such as the mid-

water longline fleets in the South American southern cone. Achieving our target reductions in these

fisheries could be expedited by exporting our knowledge and experiences from the industrial fleets we

have worked in since the inception of the ATF. However, important threats to seabirds are emerging for

gear types that currently have no known mitigation measures: purse seine and gillnet fisheries,

representing a complicated new challenge but one that our experienced team is beginning to tackle head-on

with promising, albeit early results. Taking a potential seabird conservation solution and developing it into

a dependable, practical mitigation measure is exactly what the ATF has proven is possible over the past

years, giving us the confidence and assurance to tackle these challenges.

- 21 -