In 2004 we took the Southern Seabird Solutions message to three pubs in coastland New Zealand, attracting about 50 fishermen in total in Mangonui, Houhora and Leigh.

The Portside Workshops – short, informal workshops for inshore longline fishermen – shared information about mitigation techniques used on local vessels to cut bird by-catch and other techniques being tested here and overseas.

In 2004, New Zealand Longline Manager and Southern Seabird Solutions Management Committee Member Malcolm McNeill met with French longline toothfish fleet skippers  based out of Reunion Island – sharing the knowledge, equipment and techniques that Kiwi autoline longliners have developed to stop catching seabirds.

Malcolm’s five-day visit to Reunion Island was the result of the 2004 meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, where concern was raised of seabird by-catch being reported for the French Exclusive Economic Zone – 25,841 seabirds killed, mostly white-chinned petrels, between September 2001 and August 2003.

Malcolm considers the exchange a success, with at least one French captain eager to visit a New Zealand boat to observe Kiwi methods. The next step is for Southern Seabird Solutions to remain in contact with Reunion Island-based companies, to keep them updated on developments and help them feel part of the wider longline fishery.

In 2003 we successfully completed our first fishermen exchange when Sanford Ltd hosted Chilean swordfish skipper Luis Uribe Varas on board the San Aotea II, which is a world leader in its work on seabird mitigation.

Luis was able to observe mitigation techniques on the San Aotea II, such as the use of tori lines, and talk to the New Zealand crew about his experiences with seabird mitigation in Chile.

Our seabird video, Fishing the Seabird Smart Way was completed and distributed it to Kiwi fishermen.

The 20-minute video features interviews with a range of role model fishermen within the New Zealand fishing industry about mitigation measures in use on their vessels.

We also translated the video into Spanish for distribution to fishing fleets in Chile and Peru.

The video was made with funding support from the Department of Conservation and the Seafood Industry Training Organisation.