Countering seabird bycatch to begin in Namibia

A WALVIS Bay seafood company is conducting tests with bird scaring lines to prevent sea birds from flying into trawl warp cables and being dragged underwater and drowned.

The Hangana Seafood company in Walvis Bay is collaborating with the Albatross Task Force – part of Birdlife International Global’s Seabird Programme – to test the effectiveness of using bird scaring lines off Namibian waters.Bird scaring, or Tori Lines, are deployed behind hake trawlers – above and on either side of the trawl warps during trawling – to prevent albatrosses and petrels, attracted by fish offal in the water, from getting entangled in the warps and drowning. While Tori Lines have proved effective in other counties, no systematic testing of their effectiveness under Namibian conditions has been carried out. These trials are the first of their kind in the Namibian trawling industry. Seabird by-catch has been well documented in longline fisheries, where it is easy to quantify as dead birds are landed when the lines are hauled. In trawl fisheries it is far more difficult as birds are often killed by flying into trawl warp cables, dragged underwater and drowned. These dead birds then drift loose of the cable and are not recovered. To quantify the impact trawlers have on seabirds, constant direct observation of the warp cable is necessary and all interactions need to be categorised and recorded. Data gathered by Albatross Task Force observers during the last year in the Namibian hake industry suggests there is a significant impact on seabirds. With the support of Hangana, the Albatross Task Force Namibia team has begun a series of sea trials aboard Hangana vessels to test the effectiveness of Tori Lines under Namibian conditions, and to adapt and fine-tune their deployment so as not to negatively interfere with fishing activities. Key aspects to the success of the project is the willingness of fishermen to deploy the lines and to ensure they do not affect fishing. Hangana has shown a commitment to responsible fishing and seabird conservation in supporting the Albatross Task Force with these important sea trials. The first set of trials was carried out aboard the MFV Fisherbank between July 7 and 16 this year. During this trip random trawling was carried out with and without Tori Lines. For each session the amount of offal discard and all seabird warp interactions were recorded according to a strict protocol. For future trips the same protocols will be followed and results compared. The officers and crew were keen and interested in the work and assisted with the deployment and recovery of the lines.