I am waiting for a trip on a longline vessel, heading off next week to Ushuaia to kick start the investigation into the longline fishery to reduce the bycatch of seabirds by implementing mitigation measures. In this case I have the job of trying out the efficiency of a tori (bird-scaring) line onboard a vessel that is targeting toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides.
The investigation is taking place thanks to collaborators from the National Fishery Development Institute (INIDEP) who formed an agreement with Aves Argentinas, the organisation that hosts the ATF in Argentina.
In my country the national government declared the obligatory use of mitigation measures in longline fisheries which will, once implemented, rapidly reduce seabird mortality.
Such mitigation measures include line weighting (in this case integrated line weighting), tori lines, and night setting (see BirdLife Mitigation Fact Sheets for more information on best practice mitigation measures).
We started off with a tori line production assembly line, finding the best materials within the available budget and designing an appropriate line design for demersal longline fishing. We tried this design out onboard small coastal vessels (see photo, right) from Necochea, where I am based. Then we made some modifications and we are now ready to test this model within the regime of a strict experimental at-sea investigation.
The trip that I am about to embark on will be fishing close to Isla de los Estados, not far from Cape Horn where the weather is known to be particularly gruesome with strong winds and huge swells. The trip should last about two months, especially as toothfish catches have not been as abundant recently.
I am pretty anxious to get going, also nervous as I have never been at-sea so far south before. I am looking forward to work ina fishery that really interests me, where various measures can be put in place to save the albatross. This gives me a real sense of happiness.
For this reason I am pumped with adrenaline and with all the will in the world to contribute a big part to the conservation of these wonderful species.