I recently returned from my trip on the Astra 1 after 15 days at sea, but we were only able to fish for eight due to poor weather conditions.
The target species for this vessel was yellow-fin tuna and during fishing operations we had around 20 species of seabird joining us. Six seabirds were caught on this short trip: four black-browed albatrosses, one adult shy albatross and one white-chinned petrel, all of them caught during whilst setting.
The line was normally deployed during the night but on two occasions it was set during dusk, and although it was quite dark the seabird mortalities came from these lines.
This vessel had no bird-scaring line so I worked with the deck bosun and two sailors to prepare one with materials available aboard and put it to use. We tried this mock-up bird-scaring line before the set and unfortunately had to take the decision not to use it.
The materials, although inexpensive and easy to obtain, have to be adequate to allow the bird-scaring line to fly correctly, or there would rapidly be an entanglement with the fishing gear. In this vessel the materials were not adequate.
My experience on this vessel and on others tells me that with poor weather and/or when the vessel makes a change in direction during the set, there is often a problem with entanglements. What I think we need to do therefore, is encourage the captains to use these mitigation measures on a voluntary basis first, before looking to have regulations in place.
In many cases the fishers are very keen to help and collaborate but the bird-scaring line must not interfere with the fishing procedures. If this happens, it makes their work more complicated, and reduces the probability that they use these mitigation measures as part of their routine.
If the mitigation measures don't work well, they will simply not be used and therefore will not save the birds we are trying to protect.
Also, during the same trip we captured several birds during the haul on hooks that still held bait. Four species were caught this way (yellow-nosed albatross, black-browed albatross; great shearwater and sooty shearwater). All these individuals were released alive by the crew, and a few others escaped before being brought onboard.