I was recently in the port city where I live, Mar del Plata, Argentina. The fisheries situation in our country has reached a critical point. It has been 90 days since many of the trawler vessels have been to sea due to crew demands for wage improvements, with no sign of a solution.
The situation is very complicated; the sailors protest in demand of a decent wage, they burn rubber tyres, restrict access to the ports and are all on strike.
Our work is hindered while we cannot go to sea, as we cannot monitor the interaction between albatrosses and this fishery. We have no way of knowing what is happening with pelagic seabirds, and we have missed the opportunity to record information on some shearwaters and other birds that migrate hear during the autumn and winter months.
While the absence of so many fishing vessels may be a brief respite for the birds, we still need to work at-sea to monitor and develop the mitigation measures to prevent interactions with the trawl warp cables and nets.
Due to the conflict, on my last visit to the port I was held up for several minutes by security because it is forbidden to take photographs under the present conditions. However, I was able to record the number of vessels moored in port. Where I would normally expect to see two or three boats today I was able to count six or seven in each row!
While our objective to improve the conservation status of albatrosses and petrel species would be much easier if there were no more fishing, we also understand that fisheries cannot cease to exist as so many families depend on this industry.
Hopefully the situation will be resolved soon and we can all return to work, for birds and for people.
The images above and below show the trawler vessels at their moorings in Mar del Plata, Argentina