The main objectives of the Albatross Task Force (ATF) is to reduce seabird bycatch, and ultimately to improve the conservation status of vulnerable species. This often involves working at-sea with different fisheries in South Africa such as hake longline, pelagic longline and deep-water trawl fisheries.
Earlier this month, I got on board a hake longline vessel in Saldanha Bay, north of the city of Cape Town. I have been more active on pelagic longline vessels and this was my first time on a hake (demersal or bottom longline) vessel and as expected I was a bit anxious and excited at the same time.
The South African ATF has worked in this fishery before and implemented solutions to reduce seabird mortalities. As part of the work programme we are revisiting this fishery to assess the continued compliance of mitigation measures that are in place.
Below: Tshikana on board a longline vessel showing the weights used as part of the suite of mitigation measures required in this fishery.
Upon arrival, I was well-received by the shore-skipper who later introduced me to the fishing master. The fishing master was a bit nervous around me since he thought I was there to police his fishing methods.
However after a bit of chatting he started opening up and shared his fishing experiences and his know-how of the sea. He introduced me to the crew and asked the Bosun to show me my cabin. Unlike my previous experiences, the accommodation on this vessel was small and I had to share with 17 other crew. The crew were a bit finicky around me, at first, but their unrest could be ascribed to language differences. The crew spoke Portuguese and couldn’t understand English but once I started speaking my broken ‘Spanish’ or should I say ‘SpanGlish’ to them, they all started engaging.
I went to the wheelhouse to fill in my personal details prior to sailing which is part of normal formalities but very crucial for logistical and safety reasons! The fishing master was chatty and candid to share his recent fishing activities. His first complaint was about the conflict between fisheries and Cape Fur seals. He explained how much damage the seals do to their overall catch. He was kind enough to make some pragmatic suggestions that as a neutral person, I had to just listen and nod with my head without any comment.
I asked him about his experiences with seabirds and he smiled and said to me that seabirds are his ‘guardian angels’. He further added that during 40 years of fishing he depended on seabirds in many aspects of the fishing environment. He expressed his undying love for seabirds and said they were his ‘fortune bearers’ and ‘weather-men’. When asked whether he’s caught a seabird during his previous sea trip, he said with a morose tone that he unfortunately caught a white-chinned petrel and wasn’t chuffed about it.
During the trip I noticed a few non-compliance matters that needed to be addressed with the fishing master and crew, essentially related to good fishing practice. The first was eliminating the disposal of damaged fishing gear into the sea. Another was discarding the fish offal as far from the hauling bay as possible. Birds and seals are attracted to the offal discards and can become entangled in the hook lines as they are hauled. Discarding far from the hauling bay prevents this.
Below: view of the hauling bay in a demersal longline vessel
Fishing went well considering the fishing season and the trip spanned 5 days. We docked at the Saldanha harbour and the entire crew was very happy to have had me on board and couldn’t stop asking as to when I will be coming back to the boat. The trip was an eye-opener to me and the entire crew. I will be getting on board other hake longline boats to assess the seabird bycatch situation and hopefully enlighten them about the plight of albatrosses and petrels.