Falklands Conservation

Falklands Conservation brings about Adoption of
Bird-Scaring Lines in the Falklands Trawl Fishery

Falklands Conservation, in conjunction with the Department of Fisheries and the fishing industry has worked over the last 3 years to develop effective mitigation measures to reduce the incidental mortality of Falklands black-browed albatross in the trawl fisheries around the Falkland Islands. In the Falkland Islands mortality in the finfish fleet is caused when albatross and large petrels scavenging factory discharge at the stern of the vessel are struck by the warp cable, dragged underwater and drowned. An unknown proportion of these birds slide down the cable and become impaled on a cable splice to be subsequently hauled onboard. From these observed mortalities it is estimated that more than 1,500 seabirds die annually whilst scavenging on discards from trawlers.

Photo: Black-browed albatross.

Over the last 3 years the local fishing industry has worked closely with Falklands Conservation and the Fisheries Department to quantify the problem and to search for solutions. This culminated in three months of experimental trials aboard the Hermanos Touza (Golden Touza Ltd). This work showed that simple bird-scaring lines with bright luminous streamers, towed from the stern of the vessel, 2 metres outboard of the trawl warps, were effective at scaring birds out of the danger area and led to significant reductions in mortality. The lines are simple to use, do not interfere with fishing operations and are cheap to purchase and fit.

In parallel with this work on mitigation measures Falklands Conservation undertook extensive consultation amongst all interested parties to formulate a National Plan of Action – Seabirds under the guidelines of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The final version of this plan was presented to Executive Council and officially adopted by the Falkland Islands Government in March of this year. The plan recommends the identification of appropriate mitigation measures for the finfish fleet leading to the introduction of these measures under fisheries licensing conditions.

As a result of the systematic trials conducted by Falklands Conservation, and with the support of the industry, the deployment of bird-scaring lines will be adopted by the finfish fleet when the new fishing season starts this July. In order to ensure that the bird-scaring lines are correctly made and deployed schematic plans and fitting instructions have been circulated and pre-made lines have been made available at cost to the majority of the fishing vessels.

In addition a short video has been produced and will be shown during licence briefings when the captains collect their licences from the Falkland Government Fisheries Department. A copy of this video will be issued with the licence so that it can be shown onboard to the crew that will be responsible for the deployment of the bird-scaring lines during fishing operations. This video gives a brief background to the problem and the mitigation methods that have been trialled and finishes with information on how to attach and deploy the lines. The video was produced by Robin Fryatt however the management of Eurofishing and the crew of the fishing vessel "Kalaxtori", which appropriately translates as "seagull", must be thanked for donating their vessel for a morning to allow filming. The assistance of Antonio Cordeiro, who provided the Spanish translation and a familiar voice for the narration, was also indispensable. It is hoped that the video will assist in the trouble free adoption of the bird-scaring lines in the finfish trawl fleet.

See also BirdLife International report on finale of John Ridgeway’s epic Save the Albatross Voyage: Seabird champion delivers colossal petition against pirate fishing

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