Data from longline fishing vessels promise to provide insights into keeping seabirds away from fishing lines, marking the completion of a collaboration between the Fisheries Agency and bird conservationists in Taiwan and the UK.
As a world leader in longline tuna fishing, Taiwanese vessels often accidentally ensnare albatrosses and other seabirds, especially in high-latitude waters, the agency said in a news release on Monday.
The Council of Agriculture in 2020 began working with the Taiwan Wild Bird Federation and British Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to trial solutions to the bird bycatch problem that would be compatible with Taiwanese fishers.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch
Involved in the project were two Indian Ocean and three Pacific Ocean vessels, which returned to Taiwan last year and earlier this year respectively, the agency said.
Researchers are now to analyze data collected by observers on the five boats to design better bird deterrence strategies, it added.
The three organizations are also putting together a handbook to help fishers identify different birds, it said.
Longline fishing is particularly dangerous to seabirds, which are lured by bait dangling near the surface along the lengthy fishing lines.
Common solutions include affixing brightly colored streamers to the lines to scare birds away or attaching weights so the bait sinks out of reach.
Taiwan has attended many meetings on the issue through its membership in the regional fisheries management organization and adopted the group’s seabird bycatch avoidance measures as domestic law, the agency said.
Among the rules, fishers are required to adopt at least two of three recognized avoidance measures — streamers, weighting or baiting at night.
The agency said that it was not the first time it has worked with the two organizations, nor was it its first foray into the seabird bycatch issue.
Seminars on the topic were held in 2004 and 2013, while in 2016 and 2018 the Port-based Outreach program was held in Mauritius to provide a platform for academics and stakeholders to exchange ideas on seabird conservation, it said.
Sustainable management of the fishing industry involves striking a balance between use of resources and conserving marine ecologies, the agency said, vowing to continue working with domestic and foreign organizations to improve its conservation work.
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