Developments in experimental mitigation research - Pelagic longline fisheries in Brazil, South Africa and Uruguay
The Albatross Task Force (ATF) was established in 2006 as the world's first international team of seabird mitigation instructors to meet the urgent conservation need to reduce seabird bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries. The work of the ATF originally focused on establishing ATF teams in southern Africa and South America to quantify bycatch and build links with the fishing industry and government agencies to work at-sea and on-shore towards the adoption of mitigation measures in target fisheries.
High levels of seabird bycatch exist in many pelagic longline fisheries (Jimenez & Domingo, 2006; Neves et al., 2007; Petersen et al., 2007) and although mitigation measures to reduce seabird bycatch are well documented (Brothers et al., 1999; Bull, 2007; FAO, 2008), the ACAP Seabird Bycatch Working Group has repeatedly recognised the need for their refinement and improvement when used in combination (ACAP 2008, 2009). In pelagic longline fisheries the light weight fishing gear used leaves baited hooks available within the dive depths of vulnerable seabirds beyond the protection of tori lines (Melvin et al. 2010). The Third Meeting of the SBWG in Mar del Plata (Argentina, 2010) identified a combination line weighting, tori line design and night setting as "best practice" mitigation (ACAP 2010). The research presented here takes the first steps toward improving these measures in ATF target fisheries.
In January 2009, during the first ATF instructors' workshop, each ATF team identified priority research projects pertinent to their fisheries and mitigation measures adopted at the time (BirdLife International, 2009). The resulting mitigation research projects began in 2009 and continued through 2010 with adaptations refined during an interim workshop for ATF teams in Buenos Aires, Argentina 2010 (BirdLife International, 2010).
The objective of this report is to review the work completed in the pelagic longline fisheries by ATF teams during 2010/11 and present the objectives for 2012.