Incidental capture of seabirds in pelagic longline fisheries of the tropical and subtropical Pacific islands region and Draft Pacific islands regional plan of action for reducing the incidental catch of seabirds in pelagic longline fisheries

Available information indicates that seabird interactions with longline vessels operating in tropical and subtropical areas of the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) are very rare, except in the Hawaii-based longline fisheries. A large amount of observer data have been collected from tropical and subtropical Pacific pelagic longline fisheries (15.7 million pelagic longline hooks in 8,786 sets observed from 1995-2005). However, the observer coverage rate has been extremely low (0.8% of total effort from 1995-2005). The observer data that have been collected have not been as evenly
distributed amongst flag States, areas and seasons as would be desired, which is critical for
assessing whether or not seabird bycatch is problematic. This is because abundance of seabird
species and seabird species complexes in different areas of the tropical Pacific may exhibit high inter-annual and seasonal variability. However, available observer data are distributed across seasons and cover many of the areas within the WCPO, particularly in the EEZs of Forum Fisheries Agency Members, thus accounting for some of the potential inter-annual variability in seabird actions that might occur at these fishing grounds. Improvements could be made to observer data collection protocols to optimize the accuracy in quantifying rare captures events of seabirds and other species groups of special interest (sea turtles and marine mammals).
In the absence of sufficient direct
information on seabird interactions from observer data, indirect information can be used to attempt to estimate the degree of seabird interactions. This indirect information has been obtained from (i) fishermen interviews, (ii) comparing the distributions of seabird species known to be vulnerable to capture in longline fisheries in other regions to the distribution of longline effort in the tropical and subtropical WCPO, and (iii) identifying tropical and subtropical Pacific seabird species that may be susceptible to longline capture based on the
characteristics of seabird species that are captured in temperate zone longline fisheries. These studies have revealed that longline fishermen have very rarely observed seabirds being captured when longline fishing at grounds in the tropical and subtropical Pacific, and that there are several species of seabirds present in this region that may be vulnerable to capture in longline fisheries, several of which are Threatened. However, there is large uncertainty in these results that can only be resolved through direct observations of the fisheries.
To comply with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Resolution 2005-01 on the Incidental Catch of Seabirds, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s International Plan of Action for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries, FFA
Members (excluding Australia and New Zealand, which have already conducted assessments and determined that their longline fisheries have problematic seabird interactions and adopted National Plans of Action, and Tokelau, which currently has no longline activity) are encouraged to conduct assessments of their longline fisheries to determine if a seabird bycatch problem exists. National fishery management authorities are encouraged to achieve adequate levels of observer coverage to detect and reliably estimate levels of incidental seabird capture. This includes adequate spatial and temporal coverage of fishing effort, as it is likely that seabird interactions will be highly variable temporally and spatially. It may require several years for assessments to be conducted in individual fisheries because of the potential of the high temporal and spatial variability in seabird bycatch rates, and because interactions with any threatened populations of seabirds may be particularly rare events. Due to the rarity of seabird capture events even in fisheries with relatively high seabird interaction rates, there is a need for onboard observers dedicated to observing interactions with species groups of special interest, including seabirds, to provide accurate bycatch data. Observers should obtain annual training in standardized methods to count seabird abundance during setting and seabird species identification.
If analysis of observer data for an FFA Member’s pelagic longline fishery reveals problematic seabird interactions, then the Country is encouraged to adopt and implement a Pacific Islands Regional Plan of Action for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Pelagic Longline Fisheries. Here we present a Draft Pacific Islands Regional Plan of Action-Seabirds for consideration by FFA Members in the case where a longline fishery is determined to have problematic seabird interactions (problematic in that the fishery is causing population-level effects, is capturing individuals of a threatened seabird population, or has seabird bycatch levels and rates that could be substantially reduced through the employment of seabird avoidance methods). A review of seabird bycatch avoidance methods and initiatives by Regional Fishery Management Organizations and other organizations to manage seabird bycatch in longline fisheries is conducted to identify suitable
seabird avoidance measures for the Pacific Islands Regional Plan of Action – Seabirds. This assessment considers the operational and economic effects from instituting alternative seabird avoidance methods. FFA Members with pelagic longline fisheries with problematic seabird interactions may opt to develop their own National Plan of Action for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries. The benefit of developing a National Plan of Action-Seabirds
tailored to their individual fisheries is that solutions to fisheries bycatch problems, including seabird bycatch, may be fishery-specific.