Learn about some of the activities the Trust is currently involved in.

We put seabirds in focus this year by running our second photo competition.  Over 240 entries were received.  The international competition raised seabird awareness amongst fishers and the general public. 

New Zealand Geographic editor and competition judge James Frankham said, “Photographing fast-moving seabirds from unstable fishing boats in often severe weather offers one of the most difficult challenges a photographer can face. Anyone with a shot in focus is to be congratulated. But the shots that stood out were those of exceptional beauty, behaviour or insight. Some presented birds in a way we’ve never seen them before, others played with light, water and reflected birds on the wing.  They are powerful images, some of which may greatly contribute to the preservation of seabirds under threat.”

2008 photo competition sponsors were Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, New Zealand Geographic, Te Ohu Kaimoana and WWF-New Zealand.  The photo announcement ceremony was hosted by Te Papa.

View some of this year's winning photographs.

This year Trustee Eric Barratt, Managing Director of Sanford Ltd, gave a presentation at the New Zealand Seafood Conference about the work of the Trust and its efforts to help fishermen with finding solutions to reducing seabird by-catch. 

Southern Seabird Solutions Trust teamed up with the Seafood Industry Training Organisation (SITO) to produce a learning resource on seabirds and seabird by-catch reduction.  The resource has been developed for new recruits, as well as people already in the fishing industry – from skippers to factory managers to crew members.  The learning resource covers topics such as the ecological, marketing and economic consequences of accidentally killing seabirds, and ways to avoid these interactions.

Funding for this learning resource was provided by the Ministry of Fisheries.  The resource is available on SITO's website. 

The Trust is working with Pro Delphinus of Peru to develop an educational resource about seabirds and by-catch for fishing communities and fishing schools that is appropriate in Peru and other identified South American countries. WWF-New Zealand and Encounter Kaikoura have contributed partial funding for this project.

This year Australia’s South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association held a forum to take a close look at seabird and other types of by-catch within their fishery.  Richard Wells, fisheries advocate and Trust Management Committee member, was invited to speak at the workshop to share some of the lessons learned by New Zealand’s deepwater fleet regarding by-catch.