Funding Opportunities

Description

Research suggests that over 300,000 whales and dolphins die annually due to entanglement in fishing gear, with additional unknown numbers also entangled in marine debris.  This can have devastating, long-term conservation impacts on those populations that are already threatened, in some cases critically.  In response to these growing concerns, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) launched a Global Whale Entanglement Response Network (GWERN) in 2011.  The immediate aim of the program was to build safe and effective entanglement response capability around the world.  The long-term goal is to prevent entanglements incidence globally.

The program is a partnership with the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) in Provincetown, Massachusetts, US considered one of the global leaders in entanglement response.  It is led by Technical Advisors who work for both CCS and the IWC, supported by an Expert Panel drawn from countries with long-standing and well-tested approaches to entanglement response.

With assistance from this global expert group, a Best Practice Guidelines and a two-day entanglement response training package has been development and is in need of further support.  The training workshop includes classroom study, with information on data collection, relevant regulations, and regional cetacean identification, followed by on the water, hands-on disentanglement exercises.  Since 2012, these training workshops have been delivered across five continents, reaching over 1,700 participants from more than 43 countries.

Funding to support this program includes equipment costs for disentanglement kits and trainer sponsorship consisting of flights, subsistence and a $205/day trainer fee.   Additionally, a smaller funding package to support disengagement kit supplies alone is available.

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.

Description

In California, Experimental Fishing Permits (EFP’s) have been granted to several fishing for swordfish and bluefin tuna using sustainable deep-set buoy gear (DSBG). Since 2023, DSBG has been a low-bycatch alternative to traditional swordfish gear, such as pelagic longlines and drifting gillnets, which can negatively impact sea turtles, sharks and seabirds. DSBG reduces bycatch by setting beneath the thermocline, where non-targeted species are uncommon. However, it can be challenging for fishers to relocate their DSBG, and losing gear is a concern with inclement weather. Lost gear can become ghost gear, which could indiscriminately fish both target and non-target species. Blue Ocean Gear provides Smart Buoy technology for tracking and monitoring deployed gear.  In 2023, with funding from Santa Monica Seafood and support from SFP, 2 DSBG vessels were provided with Smart Buoys to track their gear.  All DSBG were successfully relocated, and Smart Buoys enabled more effective day-to-day operations for the fishers.

Based on this success, this project will be expanded to include outfitting two additional DSBG vessels with Smart Buoy technology.  The expansion will also include training for fishers and a satellite data plan for an additional vessel already equipped with Smart Buoys. The initial training and ongoing support will be conducted by Blue Ocean Gear, both in-person and virtually, as successfully done during the past project. The additional hardware will include 10 Smart Buoys and 1 Wireless Charger per vessel. The software plan includes the Iridium subscription per buoy, as well as access to buoy data via the mobile app, web app, and TimeZero plotter.

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

Description

The Eastern Pacific Longline Large Pelagics FIP targets yellowfin tuna, mahi mahi, and swordfish in Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama.  The FIP has committed to implementing multiple bycatch mitigation methods and best practices but do not have a monitoring system sufficient to collect data on their effectiveness.

SFP will work with Martec (manages the FIP) to implement electronic monitoring (EM) on 3 vessels for 1 year.  The EM will confirm vessels are utilizing the committed best practices and collect data on bycatch interactions (interaction rate, species involved, release condition). This will greatly improve efforts to reduce bycatch impacts throughout the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The funding will be used to purchase the 3 EM systems, year round data analysis, and a stipend for fishermen to compensate for the impacts to fishing efficiency of the transition.  More details available upon request.