Major South African fishing companies have got together with a Norwegian company to use an innovative longline fishing method to try to save seabirds - thousands die on the lethal fish hooks every year, including the king of seabirds, the albatross.

An estimated 40 000 albatrosses dies on longline tuna fishing hooks in the southern ocean every year and about 10% of the world population of wandering albatross, the largest of all flying birds, are killed on longline hooks annually.

Millions of hooks are set in the southern ocean every year, where they are "shot" through the air from the stern of a vessel, land on the sea surface and slowly sink.

Seabirds, which naturally scavenge, see the bait as a tasty morsel. They are unable to tell there is a lethal hook under the bait and once they're caught, they are dragged underwater with the weighted lines and drown.

Up to 145 000 seabirds drown on these hooks every year. A fishing vessel shoots up to 30 000 baited hooks into the sea a day.

The new method, called the Mustad Autoline system, developed by a Norwegian company, shoots the longlines with their thousands of hooks from an underwater pipe, so the hooks are set about two metres underwater. In this way the bait is not visible to the seabirds.

This weeks representatives of the South African fishing companies I&J and Bartostar Fishing, sailed offshore in the Norwegian vessel Elfisk to test the system.

The South African companies plan to buy the vessel, which will be reflagged and will become the first South African vessel to use this bird-friendly fishing method.

Below decks, the 40 000 hooks and lines lie in rows, hooked over metal rods. When the machinery is started, up to 5 000 of these hooks start moving, are baited automatically with mackerel and enter the sea through the underwater pipe.

When the Elfisk set the underwater lines about 19 miles off Cape Town this week, no seabirds appeared for some time. All that was visible was an oily wake on the surface of the sea from the oily bait.

This is a far cry from the hundreds of birds that usually swirl and dive behind fishing vessels that set their longlines on the sea surface.

As the lines are being drawn back onto the vessel, some birds appeared, including sabine gulls, white-chinnes petrels, gannets and sooty petrels. Most of them seemed to be picking up fragments of bait, but no birds were hooked.

I&J's marine research manager, Mr Barrie Rose, said I&J held a permit to fish for Patagonian toothfish off South Africa's Marion and Prince Edward islands. A condition of the permit was that they fish at night only, when many of the seabirds don't feed. The aim was to reduce bird deaths.

"We will use this underwater line-setting system on the Elfisk when she goes down to the islands again and if it works well, it means we will be able to fish 24 hours, instead of nights only," Rose said.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources said the rate at which birds were being killed on fish hooks was causing a notable decline in some species worldwide.

"Unless fishing practices are changed in a way that will prevent large numbers of seabirds being caught, the survival of some populations is doubtful," the commission said in a booklet aimed at getting fishing companies to become more bird-friendly.

UCT ornithologist, Dr John Cooper, who was also on board the Elfisk this week, has been given funding from Bird Life International to do a global review on the effect of longlinging on seabirds.

"I'll be gathering information and coming up with recommendations on how to make the longline fishing industry more bird-friendly. This underwater setting system is one of the suggestions," he said.

Soft spot for hurt albatross

A young wandering albatross, which as an adult will have a wingspan of up to 3.5 metres was found injured at Plettenberg Bay.

A family brought the bird in their air-conditioned caravan to SANCCOB, Cape Town, where it is being treated for two cuts on its leg.

SANCCOB vet, Mr Francois Lampen, said he was unable to tell what had caused the injury.

"But it is clearly painful and the bird is not using that leg. It was found on the beach at Plett."

"Albatross spend most of their lives in the air and if they lay on the hard ground for too long, it injures their breastbones," he said.

"To avoid this, we have made a sort of airbed for it, with black rubbish bags stuffed with crumpled newspaper. Over this we put towels, so that when it sits, it is soft," Lampen said.

SANCCOB is also treating a giant petrel which has a broken wing.

- Melanie Gosling

Webmaster's note:
Not to be too cynical here, but one must remember that it is not entirely altruism that drives these companies to make the effort: it is clearly in their financial interests too. But I guess we shouldn't whine about that! So good news for the birds, but unfortunately not such good news for the tuna!