Having been selected as one of the first two Albatross Task Force (ATF) instructors in Uruguay, I arranged my first trip to sea.
The Uruguayan longline fleet had been less active recently due to relatively low catches, but seeing that the vessels were starting to head out again, I secured a position aboard the 'Puyuguapi', a 30 m longline vessel targeting swordfish. Luckily the weather was good for the trip, which lasted only seven days as the vessel suffered some damage.
Despite this, two lines were set and although the target catch was poor, we were lucky as there was also no seabird catch. I was able to take positive aspects from the short trip such as learning more about the behaviour of the seabirds around the vessel, develop a working relationship with the crew onboard and help explain our work and the need for seabird conservation.
This last point is of great importance as we need their collaboration in the project if we can be successful. Most of the crew live in Paloma, which is my home town and I know many of them since childhood.
We discussed the imminent construction of a bird-scaring line that we will help them build, together with the crew. I presented them with some educational materials from Uruguay's 'Proyeto Albatros y Petreles', including the seabird bulletin 'Atlantico Sur'. The fisherman liked that a lot as it demonstrates the positive results from work that they have been collaborating with such as returning identification rings from dead birds, the use of dyed bait and releasing live birds.