Longline

Description

Albatrosses and other seabirds are facing a conservation crisis worldwide. Tuna fishing is a key threat, with tens of thousands of seabirds becoming hooked and drowning each year.

A new seabird-safe tuna hook (called the Procella hook) provides fishers with a simple way to reduce seabird deaths. This hook is weighted so it sinks quickly when the longline is being set. Seabirds have little time to grab the baited hook before it is below the depth they can dive to. Several prototypes of the Procella hook have been trialed in New Zealand by three leading tuna skippers.  The fishers report excellent target catch and very low seabird captures with the finalized design. This self-reported feedback has been confirmed through government on-board cameras.

The next step is to manufacture the Procella hook and create interest and uptake by making the hook available to a broader group of skippers in the New Zealand tuna fleet and selected international tuna fleets. Target catch and fishing effort data from participating vessels will be used to produce scientific reports and marketing materials. The Procella design is easily adapted to a multitude of hook types and any hook factory can tailor the product to their customers’ needs.

The Procella hook is safer for crew than traditional line weighting options and has the advantage of making compliance checking simple and reliable. And most importantly, the skippers involved in the project have proven to themselves the Procella hook is good for fishing.

Want to know more? Contact SFP’s Bycatch Hub Manager for more specifics on the project workplan and a line-item budget.

Description

The Namibian Demersal Longline fishery is comprised of 19 vessels operating from Walvis-Bay and Lüderitz. They target Cape hakes using a double line “Spanish-system” with alternate dropper lines and weights. Each set lasts 2–3 hours and deploy an average of 16,500 baited hooks. This gear presents an elevated risk to seabirds because the addition of floats results in hooks being available to seabirds for longer periods of time. 20,000 seabirds were being killed annually in this fishery, mainly White-chinned petrels, but also of Endangered Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses. The introduction of Bird-Scaring Lines (BSL) regulation however demonstrated that bycatch can be reduced by >98% if BSLs are properly deployed. While significant efforts have been made by government agencies in Namibia, compliance monitoring relying on human observers is limited and costly. Cameras to monitor the usage of BSL is a cost-effective solution to reach 100% coverage, ensuring highest compliance with regulation.

In this collaboration with the Albatross Task Force, cameras will be deployed on two vessels to monitor the deployment of BSL during fishing operations. On each boat at least one high-definition camera will be deployed and set to capture a picture every 15 min to check BSL compliance according to regulation in Namibia. The use of cameras to capture single shots rather than videos answers privacy concerns onboard and limits the cost to store and manually check large amount of data. For each longline setting, 8- 12 pictures will be recorded per camera. This method has been successfully trialled in an Argentinian Trawl fishery, showing that the adoption of cameras has increased BSL usage from 30% to 82% in less than two years.

This project will last for a year and will be used to develop with an action plan to equip the entire fleet (19 vessels) with this compliance system.

Description

The Vietnam tuna handline/longline fishery primarily targets yellowfin tuna but also includes commercial catch of bigeye tuna, swordfish, blue marlin, striped marlin and wahoo from the western and central Pacific Ocean. During the FIP pre-assessment, they also documented bycatch interactions with sharks, rays, and sea turtles that get caught on the baited hooks.

Working with the Vietnamese fisheries association VINATUNA and FIP manager Sea Delight, this funding opportunity will reduce bycatch impacts on sharks, rays and sea turtles utilizing a comprehensive approach. This project will support best handling and release training workshops for 240 vessel captains and bycatch monitoring workshops for 40 port observers, expansion of the newly initiated at sea monitoring devices (COPPA), distribution of 1-year of circle hooks for 250 vessels (recognized best practice), and the printing and posting of Western Pacific Ocean Key Species and Discard Release posters on vessels and at major landing ports.

Trainings for both vessel captains and portside observers, informational posters, and expansion of the COPPA program will have long-term impacts on bycatch reduction in the fishery while circle hooks will immediately reduce bycatch rates for sharks, rays, and sea turtles. Additional support to provide a second year of circle hooks is possible and recommended.

Click "I'm Interested" to contact the Bycatch Solutions Hub for more details.