Brown and white albatross flying over water, group of birds on surface of the water
Shy albatross © Albatross Task Force
South Africa is a nation obsessed with birds. It doesn’t take long to understand why. Brightly coloured swooping kingfishers add a dash of colour to the bush, imperious birds of prey perch on the tops of thornbushes and African ‘jackass’ penguins congregate around the boulders of Cape Town.
And this is no more apparent than when you're in the country at this time of year for Big Birding Day. Families, friends and colleagues form groups to compete in this annual competition to record the most birds in 24 hours.
The day was established in 1984 by Birdlife South Africa, the local branch of an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that has been working to conserve birds in the country since the 1970s.
“The day is a fantastic way to engage with our amazing bird diversity and conservation as well as inform people about the increasing threats to birds; one of which involves interactions with fisheries,” explains Andrea Angel, Manager of the Albatross Taskforce programme at Birdlife South Africa.
The NGO has been working with one of the country's most important fisheries since 2006 to reduce these impacts. The partnership delivers not only environmental benefits for birds, but social empowerment too. It helps a community of people with disabilities – including some injured ex-fishers – find meaningful work that re-connects them with the ocean.
South Africa’s most important fishery turned sustainable
Responsible for half of South Africa’s commercial fishing exports and (directly and indirectly) employing around 36,500 South Africans, the hake trawl fishery is a vital industry in the Western Cape. The fishery has two components, a deep-sea offshore fleet and an inshore fleet of smaller vessels.The fishery began trawling for sole in 1897 and hake was only targeted after WW1 due to food shortages, with annual average catches reaching 1000 tons by the end of the war. Just over half a century later, the deep-sea hake trawl fishery was substantially depleted: by 1972, catches reached 1.1 million tons because of overfishing by international fleets.
In the early 2000s, the fishery made great strides to improve its sustainability, and in 2004 it became the first hake fishery in the world to achieve MSC certification. However, it was still required to make further improvements related to seabird bycatch data.
“Close to 14,000 seabirds were being killed annually as bycatch in the offshore fleet,” says Angel. Upon assessment the fishery was given a ‘condition’ or goal to ensure it both understood the impact of its interactions with seabird populations and had an effective management strategy in place. A simple solution of bird-scaring lines and discard management turned this around. The changes helped reduce seabird bycatch mortalities by 90% and a 99% reduction in albatross deaths.
Bird-scaring lines
Birds that forage behind fishing boats can get caught up in the trawl cables that hold the trawl net under the water. Birds can also become entangled in the mesh of the net as it is hauled out of the water. Bird-scaring or “tori” lines consist
of a top rope with brightly coloured streamers hanging down and set parallel to the trawl cables off the stern (back) of the vessel. The streamers scare or confuse seabirds and prevent them from coming into contact or colliding with the trawl cables.
It is a simple, cheap and an effective method to reduce bird bycatch.
“Although bird-scaring lines have been successful in reducing bycatch in the offshore fleets, the structure and operations of the inshore fleet’s smaller
boats make them difficult to use” explains Angel.
“The project has resulted in greater collaboration between government, fisheries and environmental NGOs in the country,” explains Andrew Gordon, Fisheries Outreach Manager at the MSC. “What we’ve noticed is through this process there has been increased transparency and trust gained between stakeholders. We hope this leads to continued cooperative fishery management by all stakeholders in South Africa.”
Bird-scaring lines are a low-tech, low-cost solution to mitigate seabird bycatch.
Developing a love for the birds they encounter
This cooperative nature is central to developing solutions and learning from one another. “Today I have a love of birds because of the birds we encounter” explains John Simmons, Vessel quality coordinator for Viking Fishing, who has been in
fishing for more than 20 years. His job with the hake inshore trawl operator ensures the vessels have the right supplies to head out to sea and the crew are comfortable on the vessels.
“In the old days, tori lines weren’t put
on the offshore vessels; birds were getting injured in trawl cable interactions. Since the tori lines have been there and used properly, many birds aren’t getting caught anymore. They’re wonderful and keep the birds alive.”
Through the project, John has attended a Responsible Fisheries Alliance (RFA) training workshop which has been engaging fishers on how to protect biodiversity while fishing. “Although I learnt about the tori lines from the course it also gave
me the opportunity to share my experience with others to help prevent birds from getting in the nets.”
“Since the project began, the crew has been really concerned with making sure birds aren’t harmed. When one bird is
caught in the net, they try to make sure the bird stays alive until we reach shore. We put them in a box and look after them, keep them hydrated and hand them over to local seabird rehab centres, like the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation
of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB). Sometimes when we dock, other crew members coming aboard will ask out of sincere concern, ‘did you encounter any birds?’ because they’re just developing a love for them.”
Reason Nyengera (left) and Andrea Angel (right) of Birdlife South Africa with John Simmons, Vessel Quality Coordinator for Viking Fishing.
Bycatch mitigation methods ill-matched with vessels
But it’s on the boats at-sea in the inshore fleet where the changes need to be made explains Angel. “While the offshore fleet have permit conditions requiring them to use bird mitigation measures, this does not apply to the inshore fleet.
It’s true that pelagic birds like albatrosses and petrels face less risk from inshore fleets, but there’s still Cape gannets and other seabirds that could become entangled or interact with the trawl cables.”
The project
is building bespoke structures that enable them to use the bird-scaring lines. This will help further reduce the fishery’s impact on local seabirds.
“It’s really difficult to quantify the impact of this project for seabird
populations as they’re suffering from multiple threats,” explains Angel. “Alien invasives in the colonies, plastics and pollution. We’re also talking about long-lived species with a slow reproductive output, only laying one
egg every one to two years.”
Birdlife South Africa engagement with local communities coupled with the MSC requirements is leading to reduced impacts on vulnerable seabird populations across the western coastline of Southern Africa.
Andrew Gordon, MSC Fisheries Outreach Manager in South Africa, in discussion with fisher John Simmons during a visit to the in-shore hake trawl fishery. © Birdlife South Africa.
A bottom-up approach to finding bycatch solutions
Alongside the South African hake fishery, the Namibian hake fishery also became certified in 2020 to the MSC Standard.
“With Namibia putting bird mitigation measures in place, regionally we’ll be saving about 40,000 birds annually from dying as a result of collision with trawl cables”
“We’re trying to find solutions through a collaborative approach, understanding how they can use the mitigation measures without it affecting their work,” explains Reason Nyengera, Albatross Task Force Programme Project Manager, Birdlife South Africa. “We’ll be installing new structures so that the new lines can be deployed, as well as offal management and training fishers in the ecosystem approach.”
Talking about recent trips to visit the fishers on the inshore vessels, Nyengera expressed the willingness from the fishers to find solutions. “A big part of it is actually getting out on the boats, speaking to fisherman and understanding the challenges they’re facing. A one-size approach won’t work, a bottom-up approach is what we need to solve this,” explains Nyengera.
And the bottom-up approach involves more than just the fishers, it also involves the wider local community from a nearby township called Ocean View.
Sammy Adams, one of the members at Ocean View centre for differently abled people.
Bringing the ocean to the community
In 2011, Birdlife South Africa partnered with the Ocean View Association for People with Disabilities (OVAPD) based in Kommetjie, Cape Town. Despite the name ‘Ocean
View’, most residents sadly have little interaction with the ocean now. “Since 1974, the NGO has been supporting adults with disabilities – both physical as well as neurodiverse challenges” explains Deborah Gonsalves, the centre’s
manager. “Some of the members here are actually ex-fisherman that have had accidents or strokes and ended up here”. The centre’s residents create the low-tech bird-scaring lines used by the hake fleets.
“Just talking
about Ocean View makes me glow inside” says Angel. “it’s been an absolute privilege to work with them. Being able to provide meaningful work for people who are normally not able to be in the workforce at all. Not only meaningful
in a practical sense but from an environmental point of view. They’ve been the backbone to reducing seabird bycatch.”
Deborah explains: “Working with the bird-scaring lines brings back memories for some of the ex-fishers.
The partnership gives them a new perspective, knowing they’re saving the seabirds, and they pass on this importance of saving the environment to the younger ones. It helps bring the ocean to these communities. For some, it’s the closest
they will ever get to being involved with fishing again.”
