CCAMLR

The New Zealand sea lion is taken incidental to trawl fisheries within New Zealand’s fisheries waters. About 99% of the incidental sea lion take occurs within the Auckland Islands region in association with a seasonal trawl fishery for squid. From 1995 through 2004, an estimated 79 (SD ± 35) sea lions were taken annually, incidental to trawl squid fisheries. The threatened classification of sea lions necessitates that measures are taken to mitigate the fisheries related incidental kill. The Squid Fishery Management Company has undertaken the development of a Sea Lion Exclusion Device (SLED) that they believe is a viable, practical way to allow sea lions to escape a net when trawling for squid while not adversely affecting squid catch or quality. While it has been demonstrated that the SLED does allow sea lions to escape, there are questions surrounding their short and long-term survivability.

An initiative to provide training exchanges in seabird mitigation was trialled in 2004. The aim was to provide a placement for a fisher from a Latin American county on board a vessel operating in the New Zealand fishery, which had a proven record of seabird-friendly fishing techniques. The report documents the process and outcomes of the first exchange to occur, which was for the placement of a Chilean skipper, Luis Uribe - a swordfish fisher from working in the Southern Chilean artisanal fleet - on board a the Sanford vessel San Aotea II, using demersal longline methods to fish for ling and other species.

Following the review by Alderman (unpublished) and Bull (unpublished) of research into seabird-fishery interactions, a set of recommendations were made by the Science Advisory Group to the National Plan of Action – Seabirds. The recommendations were developed under six main topic areas: a) mitigation research; b) estimation of bycatch; c) population estimation and modelling; d) foraging ecology; e) molecular research; f) assessing management efficacy. These recommendations set out methodological details to be considered when commissioning future research on seabird interactions with fisheries and the effects of fishing on seabird population viability, on apparent gaps in the existing research, and reported on the key findings of the review, as they applied to the management of seabird – fishery interactions in New Zealand fisheries. The recommendations were used in the development of the research plan for the NPOA – Seabirds for New Zealand for the period 2006/07 to 2010/11.

To facilitate research and analysis of factors influencing bycatch of marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds in longline fisheries, a workshop was organized to develop “best practices” in observer data collections. The workshop was held in conjunction with the International Fisheries Observer Conference, November 8-11, 2004, in Sydney, Australia.
The objectives of the workshop were to:
• Share information on current data collection practices and methodologies (i.e., which variables are collected by observer programs worldwide and how are they collected).
• Solicit information from data users on variables that are critical, preferred, optimal, or not important to facilitate research and analysis to reduce bycatch of protected species.
• Identify data not currently being gathered systematically that might facilitate research and analysis to reduce bycatch of protected species.
• Coordinate with observer program staff to understand data collection limitations.
• Recommend best practices for observer data collection in longline fisheries that would facilitate research and analysis to reduce bycatch of protected species, in the form of a prioritized list of variables and consistent procedures.
• Establish a network to continue to develop, refine, and implement best practices.
Workshop participants recommended variables to be collected systematically in all longline observer programs to aid in bycatch reduction research and analysis. An additional set of variables was identified to optimize data collections specific to bycatch species.

A compilation of US research on seabirds vulnerable to fisheries interactions.

Revisions to the current tagging protocols for tag-release and recapture of toothfish in the Ross Sea are described, including revised instructions, layout, and revisions to the data capture forms.

Research into seabird interactions with fisheries was reviewed. Only recent research (post 1990), and in relation to direct effects of fishing through fisheries mortalities was considered. The research was divided into five main groupings: a) estimation of bycatch; b) population estimation and modelling; c) foraging studies; d) molecular research; and e) management efficacy. Research on mitigation efficacy had been covered under a separate review (Bull, unpublished). The review was conducted to allow an assessment of the utility, current methodologies, and constraints of research into seabird biology and fishery interactions. Following from the findings of the review, recommendations were formulated by the review editorial panel (submitted separately to WG-FSA), to assist in the development of research plans for managing seabird mortalities and the effect of these on seabird population viability in New Zealand fisheries.

The paper documents a protocol for assessing warp strike occurrence for seabirds in trawl fisheries, and sets out the sampling plan, forms and protocols used to sample warp strikes in the southern squid fishery in 2005 in New Zealand. Results of this sampling are set out in Abraham (unpublished – also submitted to WG-FSA).

This report contains an analysis of data on seabird trawl-warp strike collected by fisheries observers. The survey was carried out in the southern squid trawl fishery (SQU6T/1T) over the summer of 2004 – 2005. The aim of the work was to test a new protocol for quantifying warp-strikes and to assess the factors (fishery, environmental, and behavioural, temporal) that appeared to influence the probability of warp strikes occurring for small and large birds. The protocol was designed for use by non-specialist observers, to provide a robust and objective assessment of warp strike occurrence. The key results are listed below.
• 904 good observations were made from 526 separate tows, on 19 different vessels
• 789 large bird heavy contacts were observed, at an average rate of 3.5 heavy contacts per hour (c. v. 9%)
• The number of small bird heavy contacts was lower, with 306 contacts over the entire survey. This corresponds to an average rate of 1.4 per hour (c. v. 12%)
• Offal discharge was the most significant factor associated with large bird strikes
• Discharging offal increased the large-bird strike rate by an estimated factor of 6, compared with no offal discharge
• The strike-rate for large-birds decreased by an estimated factor of 2 when bird bafflers were used
• Higher small-bird strikes were observed at higher discharge rates, and the small-bird strike rates were not strongly dependent on discharge type
• 106 dead or injured birds were recovered from the tows, a rate of 0.2 birds per tow (c. v. 13%)
• The discharge of offal was the factor most significantly associated with the recovery of dead and injured birds from the warps and the recovery of dead or injured birds from the warp was significantly associated with the warp strike rate

A survey of Mackerel Icefish, Champsocephalus gunnari,was undertaken in Division 58.5.2 in the vicinity of Heard Island in June 2005 to provide the information for an assessment of short-term annual yield in the 2005/2006 CCAMLR season. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of yield using the assessment methods of CCAMLR. It is proposed that a one-year projection be used in the implementation of the CCAMLR assessment method because the fish are likely to disappear after they become four years old during the coming season. This would result in an estimated yield of 1,210 tonnes, which is less than that predicted for the coming season in the 2004 assessment by WG-FSA.