Through our review process in 2008, a number of key themes emerged has areas that the Trust should focus its energy on: fishery by fishery approach; mitigation gear development and information dissemination; exporting the Southern Seabird Solutions model; Distant Water Fishing Nations; incentives; and telling the stories. These themes were further developed by the Trust and provide the basis for our 2009 Business Plan.

In the past, fishermen, inventors and gear manufacturers have come up with new mitigation ideas. Many ideas have not progressed beyond the conceptual stage, simply because the person behind the idea did not know what the next step should be. This project involves developing and promoting a process that can be followed by people with new mitigation ideas. This project is being generously sponsored by Sanford, Solander and Te Ohu Kaimoana.

Through this project the Trust intends to assess each priority New Zealand fishery in terms of level of understanding and acceptance of the seabird bycatch issue by fishermen, level of uptake of best practice measures, communication channels within each fishery and governance. The Trust is well positioned to carry out this assessment and to contribute to the overall understanding of seabird interactions in commercial fisheries.

Based on the outcome of the assessment the Trust will develop a response plan that will allow us to focus our limited resources on identified priorities, and streamline our work with other work being carried out by government, industry and NGOs. It will also allow us to better measure results.  

Internationally, the Trust model is recognised as an effective approach to reach fishermen and reduce seabird interactions. There have been several requests from individuals and organisations from other countries to have the Trust share its experiences of the benefits and challenges of working collaboratively, as well as requests for specific guidance on establishing organisations similar to Southern Seabird Solutions Trust.

In 2009, this project will have a strong focus on southern Africa and Argentina/Uruguay based on both an identified need and specific requests the Trust has received from individuals and organisations in both regions.

The Trust worked with Pro Delphinus of Peru to develop a Spanish-language educational resource about seabirds and bycatch for fishing communities and fishing schools that will be appropriate to use in many South American countries.

The project was sponsored by the Marine Conservation Action Fund of the New England Aquarium,  WWF-New Zealand, Encounter Kaikoura, American Bird Conservancy and NOAA.

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