Common Contracts

Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels Fourth Meeting of Seabird Bycatch Working Group

July 22nd, 2011

• Filed
  July 22nd, 2011

This paper reports the preliminary findings of two further line weighting trials in the Australian tuna fishery. The first trial compared the industry standard (60 g at 3.5 m) line weighting with 120 g lead weights 2 m from hooks, and the second compared the industry standard with 40 g leads placed at the hook. The idea for the second trial evolved during the course of the first trial. Because both trials were conducted in an area of low seabird abundance (a collaborator could not be found in a high risk area) the research was conducted in two stages. The first stage was to determine effects of the new line weighting regimes on catch rates of target and non-target fish and the operational aspects of fishing. The second stage, which depends on the results of the first stage, will be to determine the efficacy of a new weighting regime in reducing seabird mortality from that associated with the industry standard. To date the first stage (fish catch effects) of the first trial (60 g at 3.5