Bird on a wire

Fishing smarter is saving thousands of seabirds from death

What a relief to report heartening news from the world of local conservation: a massive drop in seabird mortalities, thanks to conservationists and fishermen working together on far-reaching, pragmatic solutions.

Since the rise of commercial fishing in the 20th century, millions of foraging seabirds have been caught and drowned by longline hooks and trawler nets. In 2006 alone, 300000 albatrosses and petrels were killed during global fishing operations, but now BirdLife SA's Albatross Task Force has released preliminary figures that reveal a 90% drop in the deaths of seabirds frequenting South African waters.

"The vast majority of these birds comprise albatrosses and petrels, although a small percentage include other seabirds," says Bronwyn Maree, leader of the task force's SA branch. "Worldwide 17 of the 22 albatross species are threatened - 15 of the threatened species are present in our own waters."

Albatrosses and petrels occur mostly in the southern hemisphere. When the task force was launched in seven countries across the region in 2006, some 50000 of these seabirds were being killed by the longline vessels and trawlers of the SA commercial fishing industry every year.

"The SA longline fishery has been a problem for a long time. Each vessel sets up one line at a time, which is about 150km long and contains some 3000 baited hooks. These lines used to attract a massive number of seabirds - in the mid-2000s, between 19000 and 30000 were drowned every year," says Maree.

After negotiating with local and visiting fleets, and persuading them to allow observers onboard during fishing trips, the conservation organisation learnt what was needed to cut seabird deaths.

This resulted in a series of interventions that have dramatically reduced longline mortalities to fewer than 1000 seabirds a year. These measures include flying colourful, bird-scaring streamers on ropes suspended over fishing lines, and setting the lines at night. Most seabirds have poor night vision, so they are far less likely to swoop on the baited hooks if they are sunk after dark.

"The quicker you can get the line to sink, the better it is for the birds, so we've also incorporated optimal weights to get the lines to settle down faster," Maree adds. According to her, there are around 10 local and 13 Asian longline vessels plying local waters, and now the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has included the task force's solutions into permit conditions.

"When the Asian vessels arrive, we go with a translator to explain everything. We also give them the opportunity to ask questions so they cannot plead ignorance. They must also have independent observers onboard to ensure they comply with their permit conditions," says Maree.

"The local vessels have been particularly amenable, especially now that they understand we don't want to stop them fishing. We're simply trying to protect the ocean for everyone."

Trawlers drag massive nets, tied to the vessels by thick metal cables, through the water column or across the seafloor. Once caught, fish are processed into fillets while still at sea and the offal - heads and guts - is discharged overboard. Until recently, 18000 seabirds a year collided with the trawler cables in an attempt to snatch some of this loot, suffering broken wings and drowning while being dragged underwater.

Here, too, the task force has convinced fishermen to suspend bird-scaring streamers alongside the trawler cables. This, says Maree, has reduced the toll on seabirds taken by trawlers by up to a remarkable 90%.

Adds Ross Wanless, Africa coordinator of BirdLife International's global seabird programme: "These results are a clear indication that our approach, winning hearts and minds of fishermen, works."

But Wanless says that on the high seas, "fleets deploy unimaginably huge numbers of hooks with little oversight".

"SA can reduce bycatch to zero, but it's minor on the global scale. Perhaps the task force's real success is as a case study - showing that, with a bit of open-mindedness, fishermen can catch fish profitably without driving seabirds extinct," he says.

TELL US: Should vessels be allowed to discharge fish offal overboard? E-mail tiara.greenlife@gmail.com

Fact Box

As immortalised in works such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1798 poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the wandering albatross has always been seen as a type of guardian angel of the ocean.

For vessels that have been at sea for weeks without seeing other significant signs of life, perhaps few sights are as arresting as this charismatic bird, with its 3.5m-odd wingspan, appearing like a vision over the ocean's vast solitude.

Now the Volvo Ocean Race, a round-the-world yachting event that takes place every three years, is celebrating the albatross with a public-awareness campaign at all eight of the race's stopovers, which includes educational initiatives for children from Alicante in Spain to Galway in Ireland.

Departing from the V&A Waterfront today on its next leg to the United Arab Emirates, the 2011/2012 race is also raising funds for the albatross through an online game for sailing enthusiasts.

• See www.volvooceanracegame.org