As the Albatross Task Force team leader for South Africa, I was recently asked to provide some fishery observer training slightly further from home than usual. Excitingly I was to travel to Korea and conduct a one-day training workshop with Korean fisheries observers and scientists from the South East Atlantic Trawl Fishery.
BirdLife South Africa and the Albatross Task Force were invited to the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) in Busan. The South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO) and scientists of the NFRDI did a great job in organising the travel plans and after much anticipation, the time arrived to depart Cape Town, South Africa on the arduous two day journey to Korea. I arrived at the institute and spent some time going through my presentations with the lady given the task of translating during the workshop – Mikyung Lee. Mikyung was brilliant especially considering she is not a professional translator and doesn't have background knowledge of seabird conservation and research!
There was a great turnout: 25 enthusiastic and interested people (5 young scientists, 7 scientists and 15 observers). During the day we ran through topics such as how to assess the risks to seabirds in trawl fisheries, the best practise solutions available to mitigate mortality, safe handling of seabirds, seabird identification and the collection of important data while out at sea. I was treated to a true Korean-style lunch and even had time for a quick visit to the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple right next to the institute (with my ‘official’ guide – Mikyung Lee)!
Below: Bronwyn at the Haedong Yonggungsa temple
The day ended with a fun identification game where participants had to correctly identify the seabirds from less-than-perfect photographs– the competition to get it right was fierce! The observers and scientists asked many valuable questions and expressed how much they learnt. The experience was amazing, the people involved were professional, accommodation was great and the workshop was a success – it represented the first time an NGO has worked with the Asian distant water fishing fleet. This promises to be the start of a long-lasting relationship with Korean fisheries.
I would like to thank SEAFO for their role. Their scientists saw the need to collect data on seabird-trawl interactions, and the Commissioners agreed to fund my travel to Busan to carry out this important training.
Below: Bronwyn explains the best methods to handle live birds on deck.