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 A joint experimental assessment of the performance of Tori (bird-scaring) line models in longline fisheries is being conducted between Brazil (Projeto Albatroz) and Uruguay (Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos (DINARA) within the framework of the Albatross Task Force, supported by BirdLife International, the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Sociedade para a Conservação das Aves do Brasil (Save Brasil).

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The first stage of the project is addressing methods to improve the performance of Tori lines by including towed devices (such as road cones) at the end of the lines in order to avoid entanglements with the longline.  A first pilot study was conducted in Brazilian waters onboard the F/V Kospesca IV, and a second phase is being conducted by the Uruguayan team aboard a national research vessel.

Methods to be used in the next 10 trips will be based on these pilot studies.  Results from the experiments will be presented at the end of 2009.

For more news on the bi-national project go to:

http://www.projetoalbatroz.org.br/news.aspx?newsId=32

and

http://blogs.rspb.org.uk/albatross/archive/2009/05/18/Traffic-cones_2C00_-ropes-and-streamers.aspx

Juan Pablo Seco Pon, South American News Correspondent, 23 May 2009