I have been meeting people and filling up my brain with lots of info in readiness for my new task. I can say that I understand the fishing industries and their impacts on seabirds better. I have learned more about the important fishing areas in Chile, the different fishing techniques used for the different fish species and the mitigation measures developed around the world to prevent albatross deaths.
I was very lucky to meet specialists and attend lectures at a key expert meeting that was held in June in Valvidia, Chile.
During these days, it was good to attend a special meeting with the rest of the new Chilean Albatross Team. This meeting was important for me to find out how I will be helping albatrosses in my first year.
I have also been lucky to meet other Albatross Task Force members who have been been working in Brazil - they shared their experiences with me.
One of my key jobs is to let the people of Chile know what that the Task Force work has begun. I have been working with Rodrigo Vega, another new Albatross Task Force member, to develop our ATF Chile logo and with Lucas Varga, a good designer from Buenos Aires, on our website.
We decided that a well designed website will be a great educational tool for the project. Directed especially to fishermen and local people, this website will contain essential and concise information in Spanish. The website is almost ready and will be distributed to the target groups and local people.