First, here's a little about me. I have always been fascinated by marine life and living in such a beautiful and diverse country as South Africa, really motivated me to work as a conservationist. My aspirations grew and progressed into a determination to study Marine Ecology at the University of Cape Town.
I've spent a lot of time exploring the coastline of South Africa, both by sailboat and fishing vessel, and I have seen first-hand the general exploitation of aquatic resources.
I was thrilled at the idea of becoming an Albatross Task Force member. I particularly like the way that the programme does not limit itself to making management decisions behind a desk, but instead works directly with fishermen, at-sea and onshore, a conservation strategy I live by.
So what have I been doing? In my first few weeks as an ATF member, I've been analysing bycatch data collected over six weeks last year on hake longline vessels. We tested different mitigation methods and recorded the outcomes.
I'm currently finalising a report on the results to present at a bycatch workshop in mid-May, with around 100 hake fishermen and their fishery managers. I hope that this workshop will encourage more vessels to adopt albatross-friendly fishing methods, and gain a better understanding of why this is so important. I'll let you know how I get on!