Last week I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity (along with a member of WWF’s Responsible Fisheries Programme) to spend a few days at sea on the South African Government’s offshore patrol vessel. This trip was very different from my normal trips onboard the commercial fishing vessels.
I learned a huge amount about poaching of abalone and at-sea vessel inspections from the compliance officers aboard the PV Sarah Baartman during the trip. The five compliance officers spent a few hours each evening with us during some interactive discussion sessions. This gave us the opportunity to talk about the ecosystem and impacts of fishing and discuss some of the permit conditions relating to seabirds and other bycatch species.
They were very eager to learn about the aspects of seabird mitigation and in return helped us to understand some of the permit conditions of the fishery. One of our main topics was the regulation of the tori lines that should be used in the fisheries.
During the day we were able to put this all into practice, when we accompanied the officers to fishing vessels they were inspecting. Here they checked the permits of vessels, the fishing gear and operations. They made a special effort in checking the tori lines and how they would fly in the water; explaining to the fishermen why some of the materials they were using were not the best. Our contribution gave them greater depth in the reasoning behind the seabird mitigation measures.
These vessel inspections were done using rubber ducks (semi-rigid inflatable boats) that were deployed from the main patrol vessel. The boarding process in these small vessels gave me plenty of time to teach the officers some of the facts about the seabirds that we encountered around the fishing vessels. Many were amazed at the detailed information I mentioned, as they had not paid much attention to seabirds on previous trips!
While at sea we have started collecting information cards on seabird abundance for another project known as AS@S (Atlas of Seabirds at Sea) and it has really given people the opportunity to ask more questions about seabirds. I find that while I am busy doing these observations at least one of the crew of the vessels will come and learn more about what I am doing, creating a perfect platform for discussion about seabird conservation!