Scare line is birds' lifeline

A relatively cheap and simple way has been found to reduce the huge number of sea bird deaths caused by fishing trawlers.

Trawler-related deaths of sea birds can be reduced by 90% - 99% in respect of albatrosses.

The results of research by the University of Cape Town and Bird Life International appeared recently in the international journal Animal Conservation.

The research involved monitoring trawlers off the coast of South Africa for seven years.

Various species of sea bird, especially albatrosses and petrels, are drawn in their thousands to the offal discarded by trawlers.

While they are scavenging the birds become entangled in the trawl cables and drown.

But when they encounter the yellow streamers now fluttering from the sterns of many trawlers they are frightened off.

"Accidental sea bird deaths during fishing pose the single biggest threat to sea bird populations around the world," said Ross Wanless, co-author of a research paper on the scare lines.

Wanless, a University of Cape Town research associate and Africa co-ordinator of the Bird Life International marine programme, said the innovation was "amazingly effective, and costs only R1000 to R1500".

He said that for an industry that makes R6-billion a year that was a negligible cost, but would save huge numbers of sea birds.

The scare lines, first invented by a Japanese vessel captain, are produced in South Africa by people with disabilities in Ocean View, Cape Town.

Although trawler fleets operate throughout the year, the numbers of birds at risk is seasonal, said Wanless.

"In winter, they come out in huge numbers and that is when the scare lines have a really strong effect."