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Coral Triangle Fishers Forum 15-17 June 2010 Bali, Indonesia Bycatch Initiatives for Pacific Islands from SPC Steve Beverly, Secretariat of the Pacific Community Themes • • • • • • Fishing gear experiments Protected species ToT workshop Awareness materials Tools Databases Lessons learned Deep setting technique, or • Effects of eliminating shallow hooks from tuna longline sets on target and non-target species in the Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery No shallow hooks • Reduce bycatch of epipelagic and protected species • Ensure that all hooks fish below 100 meters of depth • Determine if method is operationally feasible within existing fishery • Analyze changes in catch composition Method • Uses mainline as floatline • 3 kg lead weights are attached directly to mainline to sink all gear below 100 meters • TDRs attached to all sets at first and middle hook positions • 2000 hooks per set Operational plan • • • • • • • • 7 trips 90 sets - alternated 45 control vs 45 deep sets No running or time break between paired sets Used same gear/bait for all sets 14 sets per trip Most trips lasted 21 days Trips ran from June-December 2006 Catch % by gear type Deep setting: Increases Sickle pomfret Opah Shortfin mako shark Bigeye tuna Blue shark Yellowfin tuna Albacore tuna %Deep Broadbill swordfish %Control Escolar Blue marlin Wahoo Mahimahi Striped marlin Shortbill spearfish No effect Decreases Lessons learned • Fisheries dependent experiments work better if the vessel has been chartered or otherwise compensated • Just because a mitigation method works well does not mean that it will be taken up or put into regulations • Fishermen are very concerned about cost – in time and money of mitigation methods • Fishermen come up with solutions Large circle hook experiments • Establish cooperative research relationships • Test large circle hooks in existing Pacific Island domestic longline fisheries • Determine the efficacy of large circle hooks at catching target species compared with the hooks currently in use in the fisheries • Promote the use of large circle hooks in the fisheries What is a circle hook? • Polynesian hook • Steel circle hook • Point/shank 90o • Rotating hook Other longline hooks • Japan tuna hook • Terashima hook • J hook/Spanish hook Method • Change half of vessels’ hooks to16/0 stainless steel offset circle hooks • Begin first set by alternating hooks • All other sets have a random mixing of hooks • Maintain a 50/50 ratio • Monitor all catch by hook type • Make no other changes to fishing operations • Utilize local observers Catch composition (number caught) 7% 1%1% 10% 34% Albacore tuna Mahimahi Broadbill swordfish Bigeye tuna 17% Skipjack tuna Striped marlin Wahoo 30% M tu na ah oa im db ah i ll i sw or df ish Bi ge ye tu Sk na ip ja ck tu St na ri p ed m ar l in W ah oo Br e Al ba co r Number caught Target species catch by hook type 16 14 12 O HOOK 10 X HOOK 8 6 4 2 0 Species Lessons learned • Many fishermen are already using circle hooks • Cooperative research involving fishermen, fisheries departments, RFMOs, IGOs, and NGOs can work well • Identification of hooks by type and size is very important • 50-100,000 hooks needed for analysis Protected species ToT workshop 2009 Lessons learned • Training of Trainers probably needs to be an ongoing activity because of turnover • Resource materials and/or protected species course should be delivered as a generic finished product that can be amended according to individual country needs and practices • Fulfills obligations of exporting countries Awareness materials • • • • Manuals Brochures Posters/stickers Species ID guides Lessons learned • Print limited numbers of awareness materials as things change rapidly and mistakes are made (eg, teracima/Terashima) • Initial bi-lingual or tri-lingual material saves translation and reproduction costs down the road • Include distribution costs in budget proposals • Ship as cargo not as baggage Tools given out by SPC • • • • De-hookers Line cutters Bolt cutters Dip nets Alternative tools Lessons learned • Money can be saved by being innovative. Line cutter made with seat belt cutter cost $2.50. Commercial line cutter costs $200. • De-hookers can be made from common materials • Buying in bulk saves money. • De-hookers, line cutters, and dip nets have other useful applications on a longline boat so are an easy sell. Bycatch Databases • Catch and effort database from logbooks and observer reports – in progress at SPC • Document database – in progress at SPC • Lessons learned – budget a lot for this kind of activity – it takes longer than you think, set up data bases as living documents, and hire a webmaster Terimah Kasih dan Sampai Jumpa