Conclusions
1. The participants of the Workshop unanimously agreed that an evident progress had taken place in dealing with incidental catch of seabirds in the longline fisheries in South America, if compare with the situation when the first workshop on the issue was held two years ago. The main achievements in this question were summarized as follows:
All countries concerned have started to work on the assessment of incidental mortality of seabirds in longline fisheries.
All countries have identified a set of mitigation measures and some of them have initiated studies to implement and/or to improve such measures.
All countries have initiated the preparation of NPOAs-Seabirds, though the degree of achievements varies from country to country.
A higher commitment from governmental institutions and also from the fishery industry to deal with the conservation of seabirds is observed.
Some progress has also been achieved in the economic assessment of interaction between seabirds and marine fisheries.
2. The meeting also concluded that there exists a good basis for regional cooperation on the reduction of incidental catch of seabirds in countries with longline fisheries in South Pacific and South Atlantic. In this context, the cooperation between FAO and BirdLife International, which allowed the holding of this workshop, was commended.
Recommendations
1. The Workshop recognized the need for countries with fisheries interacting with seabirds in South America, to continue the study of this problem in order to ensure the sustainability of the seabirds population along with the sustainability of concerned fisheries.
2. It was also recognized the need for an involvement of all interested parties in the solution of this problem, particularly the participation of key institutions and their specialists, like fishery management authorities, fishery research institutions, relevant NGOs, and fishing companies. The need for improving the scientific observation processes was also stressed.
3. The meeting made the following recommendations:
Encourage the assessment of incidental mortality of seabirds in longline fisheries and intensify the research on suitable mitigation measures for specific fisheries, as well as research oriented to improve the mitigation methods and devizes.
Continue the development of methodology to assess the economic impact of incidental catch of seabird in longline fisheries and develop methodologies to assess the economic impact of mitigation measures in longline fisheries.
Encourage the development of regional research on seabird bycatch and also on the implementation and the improvement of mitigation measures in longline fisheries.
Continue the cooperation between FAO and BirdLife International. The next steps in this cooperation should be (a) the publication of a technical paper on the interaction of seabirds and longline fisheries in the South American seas and (b) the holding of a second Workshop on this issue by the end of 2005.
Study the possible interaction of trawling fleets with seabirds in the high seas of South East Pacific.
Participate actively in international agreements like Galapagos Agreement and ICCAT.
Disseminate information on ESCAPE.
Encourage the adoption by concerned countries of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatroses and Petrels and the participation of these countries in the research programme of the Agreement.
