Reducing seabird bycatch in the South African joint venture tuna fishery using bird-scaring lines, branch line weighting and nighttime setting of hooks

Melvin, Edward F.; Guy, Troy J.; Read, Lorraine B.

doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2013.04.015

Cited by 35 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…These results have also been observed in other studies which showed that many diurnal seabirds have activity peaks at dawn and dusk192730. Since most seabirds affected by longliners in the Mediterranean are basically diurnal, a promising mitigation measure to be applied in this region would be night setting, as previously suggested in other studies193031323334. This measure could be easily implemented at low economic costs, and compliance could be monitored and enforced to some extent through the control of fishing schedules of longliners by harbour authorities, as it is currently done for other types of fisheries.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Relative abundance and distribution of fisheries influence risk of seabird bycatch

Cortés

Reyes‐González

Guallar

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Fisheries provide an abundant and predictable food source for many pelagic seabirds through discards, but also pose a major threat to them through bycatch, threatening their populations worldwide. The reform of the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which intends to ban discards through the landing obligation of all catches, may force seabirds to seek alternative food sources, such as baited hooks from longlines, increasing bycatch rates. To test this hypothesis we performed a combined analysis of seabird-fishery interactions using as a model Scopoli’s shearwaters Calonectris diomedea in the Mediterranean. Tracking data showed that the probability of shearwaters attending longliners increased exponentially with a decreasing density of trawlers. On-board observations and mortality events corroborated this result: the probability of birds attending longliners increased 4% per each trawler leaving the longliner proximity and bird mortality increased tenfold when trawlers were not operating. Therefore, the implementation of the landing obligation in EU waters will likely cause a substantial increase in bycatch rates in longliners, at least in the short-term, due to birds switching from trawlers to longliners. Thus the implementation of the landing obligation must be carefully monitored and counterbalanced with an urgent implementation of bycatch mitigation measures in the longline fleet.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Relative abundance and distribution of fisheries influence risk of seabird bycatch

Cortés

Reyes‐González

Guallar

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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show abstract

“…Nevertheless, further studies directed toward the effectiveness of these strategies to reduce seabird bycatch and their potential effects on fishing activity are desirable. Streamer lines and the increase of bait sink rate by adding weight to the line, or a combination of different mitigation measures, have also been proven to be very effective in some demersal fisheries from other regions (Brothers et al 1999b, Dietrich et al 2008, Løkkeborg 2011, Melvin et al 2013), but should be carefully evaluated in the Mediterranean, since the diving capability of the 3 shearwater species may render these mitigation methods less effective.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seabirds and demersal longliners in the northwestern Mediterranean: factors driving their interactions and bycatch rates

Cortés¹,

Arcos²,

González‐Solís³

2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…It is currently not known what impact the local small-scale fishery has on Anguilla's seabird populations, although other small-scale artisanal fisheries have been reported as being a significant problem elsewhere [41,42]. Fishing methods that reduce the potential risk of fisheries by-catch from hand-line, trolling and vertical long-lines should be encouraged, including faster sinking bait and bird scarers [43,44]. Since fishing activities apparently take place in the high activity threshold areas of Anguilla's seabirds (Fig.…”

Section: Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Important foraging areas of seabirds from Anguilla, Caribbean: Implications for marine spatial planning

et al. 2016

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a b s t r a c tMarine spatial planning (MSP) has become an important tool to balance the needs of commercial, economical and recreational users of the marine environment with the protection of marine biodiversity. BirdLife International advocate the designation of marine Important Bird Areas (IBAs) as a key tool to improve the protection and sustainable management of the oceans, including the designation of Marine Protected Areas, which can feed into MSP processes. This study presents the results of three years of seabird tracking from the UK Overseas Territory of Anguilla, where marine resources are currently relatively unexploited and MSP is in its infancy. The core foraging areas of 1326 foraging trips from 238 individuals, representing five species (brown booby Sula leucogaster, masked booby Sula dactylatra, sooty tern Onychoprion fuscatus, magnificent frigatebird Fregata magnificens and red-billed tropicbird Phaethon aethereus) breeding on three of Anguilla's offshore cays were used to calculate the hotspot foraging areas for each study species. These high activity areas were then compared with fishing activity within Anguilla's Exclusive Economic zone and to proposed coastal developments. Two marine IBAs were identified within Anguilla's waters: the first to be defined, using seabird tracking data, in the Caribbean region. Whilst the level of fishing activity and associated seabird by-catch is hard to quantify, the core foraging areas of seabirds breeding in Anguilla were observed to overlap with areas known for high fishing activity. These findings highlight the need to work both nationally and across territorial boundaries to implement appropriate marine spatial planning.

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Reducing seabird bycatch in the South African joint venture tuna fishery using bird-scaring lines, branch line weighting and nighttime setting of hooks

Cited by 35 publications

References 32 publications

Relative abundance and distribution of fisheries influence risk of seabird bycatch

Relative abundance and distribution of fisheries influence risk of seabird bycatch

Seabirds and demersal longliners in the northwestern Mediterranean: factors driving their interactions and bycatch rates

Important foraging areas of seabirds from Anguilla, Caribbean: Implications for marine spatial planning

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