I am back on land now. The 'Saxon' docked in Cape Town Harbour on Sunday afternoon.
The next day, I came back to the harbour where they were offloading their catch to deliver the tori line I promised them and also give them some T-shirts. These shirts cry in big red letters 'SAVE THE ALBATROSS' which I think makes good publicity for us, especially when they're worn by the fishermen themselves. They do love these shirts...
I can honestly say the trip was successful. We didn't catch a single bird while another longliner who was fishing close to us caught three albatrosses. Talking to the skipper, he said he has used a tori line but weather conditions reduced its efficiency. This boat is my next target and hopefully I'll be joining them in April.
The crew of the 'Saxon' promised to keep me informed of their bycatch in the next trips as they have been doing for the last year and also report me the if the new tori line works.
Let's hope it does...