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<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Namibia’s
low cost, sustainable solution to seabird bycatch<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a
href="https://news.mongabay.com/by/william-h-funk"><span style='color:windowtext;
border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none'>William H. Funk</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>25
April 2017<span class=apple-converted-space><span style='color:white'> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a
href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/04/namibias-low-cost-sustainable-solution-to-seabird-bycatch/?utm_source=Mongabay+Email+Alerts&utm_campaign=448602c3ec-mailchimp_africa_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e1ea8b5f35-448602c3ec-76256527">https://news.mongabay.com/2017/04/namibias-low-cost-sustainable-solution-to-seabird-bycatch/?utm_source=Mongabay+Email+Alerts&utm_campaign=448602c3ec-mailchimp_africa_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e1ea8b5f35-448602c3ec-76256527</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline'><i><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";letter-spacing:.1pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:
0in'><a
href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140044/6-bycatch.jpg"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#669900;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=756 height=512 id="Imagen_x0020_2"
src="cid:image001.jpg@01D2C338.462E25A0"
alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140044/6-bycatch-756x512.jpg"></span></a></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>A
juvenile Black-browed albatross caught on a baited hook. The bird was released
by Albatross Task Force. Photo courtesy of the Albatross Task Force<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Many years ago I joined
my cousin, the mate on a sporting vessel, on a fishing trip off the North
Carolina coast. We were trolling baited lines in hopes of catching striped
bass.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>I was in the wheelhouse
when a mighty expletive arose from one of the three paying client fishermen.
Looking astern, I saw a large white bird floundering in the sea — it had
dived to take one of the towed baitfish and now was hooked.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>The client angrily
jerked the rod, reeling in the struggling animal, a Northern gannet. The bird,
once on deck, was judged to have swallowed the hook. The captain moved swiftly
to cut the line and toss the doomed bird overboard, but before he could act, I
asked to examine the bird.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>He handed it over, all
seven struggling, kicking, flapping pounds of it. The bird’s face, so
close to my own now, was striking; its desperately clacking chisel-like bill, a
slight taupe tincture at the top of the head, and staring white eyes ringed in
startling turquoise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>With the captain’s
help, I pried the bill open and found that the hook hadn’t been swallowed
but was merely caught in the bird’s throat. Using pliers, I reached into
the wildly vocalizing mouth, seized the hook and with a quick downward motion
removed it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>The captain immediately,
and with unexpected delight, hurled the bird high into the air, and we all
watched silently as it departed our company at top speed. The client
who’d been so enraged at the bird’s interruption of his fishing
exclaimed quietly: “Man, that was… really something.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Unfortunately, this Northern
gannet was one of the few lucky victims of bycatch. Most of the billions of
animals swept up accidentally by commercial fishermen and sport anglers every
year die. But in far away Namibia, they’ve found a simple solution to the
problem the rest of the world could tune to as an inspiration and example.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:
0in'><a
href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140119/10-bycatch.jpg"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#669900;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=712 height=512 id="Imagen_x0020_3"
src="cid:image002.jpg@01D2C338.462E25A0"
alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140119/10-bycatch-712x512.jpg"></span></a></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The
Critically Endangered Tristan albatross (Diomedea dabbenena). Breeding
populations are restricted to Gough Island, roughly 2,000 miles southwest of
Namibia, according to the IUCN; adults fly above fishing waters several hundred
miles off Namibia’s coast. A major threat to the species are longline
fisheries. Photo by michael clarke stuff Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 2.0 Generic license<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Roboto","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h3 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline'><strong><span
style='font-size:16.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";border:none windowtext 1.0pt;
padding:0in'>The waste of bycatch</span></strong><span style='font-size:16.5pt;
font-family:"Roboto","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Accidental take of
marine animals by commercial fisheries is a serious but largely unsung global
problem, with a breathtaking 40 percent of the world’s marine fishing
haul essentially disposed of as garbage annually. That’s roughly 63
billion pounds of unwanted wildlife — seabirds, marine mammals and sea
turtles, countless fish species, rays, and cephalopods — inadvertently
killed by swallowing baited hooks or getting entangled in nets.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>This bycatch, as it is
called, suffers the fate that our Northern gannet nearly experienced. All 63
billion pounds of marine animals, usually dead or dying, is thrown overboard, a
tremendous waste of wildlife, that until fairly recently was casually taken for
granted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Today, some governments
— with an increasing understanding of the devastation wrought by
traditional fishing methods — are beginning to require that commercial,
and sometimes sport, fishermen apply specially designed devices to their
equipment to minimize this senseless loss of life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:
0in'><a
href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140429/7-bycatch.jpg"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#669900;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=768 height=467 id="Imagen_x0020_4"
src="cid:image003.jpg@01D2C338.462E25A0"
alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140429/7-bycatch-768x467.jpg"></span></a></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>An
Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos).
Uncounted numbers of seabirds fall victim to bycatch every year, even though
there are fairly simple and inexpensive devices available to prevent their
deaths. Photo by JJ Harrison, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License
3.0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Turtle Excluder Devices
or TEDs, for example, have been required in the United States since 1987, with
the nets of shrimping boats mandated to include a metal grid that allows shrimp
to pass through while blocking the turtles, sharks and other large animals that
otherwise would be rendered as bycatch — this allows the unwanted animals
to escape unharmed through a vent at the top or bottom of the net.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>This is a promising
technological achievement for a rich country that long neglected its bycatch
problem. But financially strapped nations in the developing world have been
slow to follow with bycatch prevention equipment, or with the governmental
programs needed to get it installed and accepted by traditional, often very
conservative fishermen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch: inherit'><strong><span
style='font-size:16.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";border:none windowtext 1.0pt;
padding:0in'>Namibia leads the way in battling seabird bycatch</span></strong><span
style='font-size:16.5pt;font-family:"Roboto","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline;outline: none;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:
inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:
inherit'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Little-known
Namibia, in southwest Africa, could well be the nation that is currently
leading the pack in protecting seabirds, a particularly interesting happening
considering that the country was previously known as the<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://www.birdlife.org/africa/news/namibia-board-birdlife-end-seabird-bycatch-world%E2%80%99s-worst-fishery"><span
style='color:#669900;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>“world’s
worst fishery”</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>in
terms of avian bycatch.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline;outline: none;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:
inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:
inherit'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Namibia’s
fishermen are usually going after hake, a cod-like fish that constitutes around
50 percent of the country’s N$11 billion (US$845 million) fishing
industry. However, in the process, commercial fishermen have been killing more
than 30,000 seabirds as bycatch every year, including the Tristan albatross (<a
href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/"><span style='color:#669900;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;
padding:0in'>IUCN Red Listed</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>as
Critically Endangered); the Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross (Endangered);
black-browed albatross and shy albatross (both Near Threatened); and the
White-chinned petrel and Cape gannet (both Vulnerable).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Albatrosses are the most
highly threatened group of birds on earth, and at Namibia’s level of
accidental take, the country’s fishing industry was on the way to playing
a major role in helping these bird species spiral to extinction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:
0in'><a
href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140604/3-bycatch.jpg"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#669900;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=768 height=507 id="Imagen_x0020_5"
src="cid:image004.jpg@01D2C338.462E25A0"
alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140604/3-bycatch-768x507.jpg"></span></a></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Samantha
Matjila preparing to go to sea. She’s found Namibia fishermen to be
receptive to the introduction of new devices to prevent bycatch. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Photo
courtesy of the Albatross Task Force<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Samantha
Matjila is with the<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://nnf.org.na/"><span style='color:#669900;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;
padding:0in'>Namibia Nature Foundation</span></a>, which represents her country
on the international Albatross Task Force (ATF) composed of Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, South Africa and Namibia. Last spring, she enrolled in
a program that the ATF, which is hosted by<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://www.birdlife.org/"><span style='color:#669900;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;
padding:0in'>BirdLife International</span></a>, had been conducting in Namibia
since 2008, but which has been ramped up since the Namibian government
introduced tight new regulations in 2014 to mandate the use of bycatch
abatement equipment on all commercial fishing vessels, with a fine of N$500,000
(US$38,400) and up to ten years in prison awaiting violators.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Matjila’s job is
to show fishermen how to fit the various devices used to avoid bycatch to a
boat’s fishing gear. Then she accompanies the fishermen out to sea to
show them how the gadgets work in practice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline;outline: none;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:
inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:
inherit'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>The
anti-bycatch tools are quite simple and easy to use, and include
“bird-scaring” lines (also known as<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="https://www.wcpfc.int/bmis/methods/25"><span style='color:#669900;
border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>tori lines or streamers</span></a>)
that are being used by the nation’s 70 trawling vessels. Bird-scaring
lines, along with line-weighting and nocturnal baiting techniques, are used by
Namibia’s 12 longline fishing vessels.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Albatrosses, some of
which can live for 60 years, are caught and drown when they attack a baited
hook before it can sink out of their diving range. The bird-scaring lines
consist of 150-meter-long ropes with brightly colored streamers placed two or
three meters apart. Line-weighting involves the placement of additional
weighted sinkers on each line so the bait sinks more rapidly while setting a
longline — a miles-long main line with as many as 2,500 baited hooks
dangling from shorter lines. These lines are also set out at night to prevent
the bycatch of diurnal albatrosses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:
0in'><a
href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140655/5-bycatch.jpg"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#669900;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=749 height=512 id="Imagen_x0020_6"
src="cid:image005.jpg@01D2C338.462E25A0"
alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140655/5-bycatch-749x512.jpg"></span></a></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Namibian
fishermen sort through “bird scare” lines in preparation for their
use. Photo courtesy of the Albatross Task Force<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Across
the border in South Africa, where the ATF has been working with fishermen since
2006 using the same simple techniques, the successes have been astounding, with
a<a
href="http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/high-seas-heroes-recognised-their-success"><span
style='color:#669900;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>decline of over
90 percent in seabird bycatch</span></a>. Similar success is being seen in
Namibia, with the ATF hoping to reach an 85-90 percent reduction in bycatch in
the near future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>The ATF first worked
with volunteer Namibian fishermen in 2008, says Matjila. “We didn’t
know what the impact of Namibian fisheries would be back then, but we knew
there was an overlap of where albatrosses roam and where the vessels set their
hooks. We also knew that simple, practical measures existed that could reduce
seabird deaths.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>But what about hostile
reactions to new regulations (something seen at first when TEDs were introduced
in the U.S.)? “Working with the fishermen and sharing in discussions with
them about the bycatch law, it is safe to say that, yes, they are very
accepting as they realize the benefits of the mitigation measures introduced to
them,” Matjila says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>After being certified by
the ATF, Namibia’s commercial fishermen are monitored aboard their
vessels by agents of the National Fisheries Observer Agency. Oliver Yates,
BirdLife International’s Global Albatross Task Force Coordinator, says
that today, “close to 100 percent of vessels carry observers. This is
particularly good coverage and makes Namibia a perfect example of how this
could/should work effectively,” around the globe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:
0in'><a
href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140809/1-bycatch.jpg"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#669900;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=768 height=473 id="Imagen_x0020_7"
src="cid:image006.jpg@01D2C338.462E25A0"
alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140809/1-bycatch-768x473.jpg"></span></a></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The
Meme Itumbapo Women’s Group and their handmade bird-scaring lines. Photo
courtesy of BirdLife International<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h3 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline'><strong><span
style='font-size:16.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";border:none windowtext 1.0pt;
padding:0in'>Saving birds through a sustainable economy</span></strong><span
style='font-size:16.5pt;font-family:"Roboto","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>It’s not just
seabirds that benefit from Namibia’s program. According to Matjila,
“The fishing companies purchase bird-scaring lines produced by a local
organization called the ‘Meme Itumbapo Women’s Group.’ Meme
Itumbapo is a consortium of five women, aged 33 to 47, who generate a small
income from traditional jewelry sales. These women also now manufacture
and supply the bird-scaring lines for the longline and trawling fisheries from
their headquarters ‘Bird’s Paradise,’ in Walvis Bay, a
coastal city.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>“The women are
funded by an independent Namibian port authority, Namport, and we are working
to make this a sustainable venture which will ensure provision of affordable
bird-scaring lines for the fishery,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>These hardworking and
adaptable women shifted easily from stringing together beautiful necklaces made
out of seashells to supplying ten percent (so far) of the equipment needed by
Namibia’s fishing fleet to save seabirds — an example of
sustainable, affordable conservation, as well as gender equality.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>The ATF is now promising
that, “Their hand-built, quality-assured, local, affordable lines will be
flying off the back of more and more Namibian fishing boats in the next two
years.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:
0in'><a
href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140921/9-bycatch.jpg"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#669900;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=768 height=505 id="Imagen_x0020_8"
src="cid:image007.jpg@01D2C338.462E25A0"
alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25140921/9-bycatch-768x505.jpg"></span></a></span><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>A
Near Threatened shy albatross (Thalassarche cauta). Photo by JJ Harrison Creative
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Clemens Naomab was one
of the ATF’s first Namibian anti-bycatch trainers. He tells how he earned
the trust of often insular and independent fishermen: “Namibians like to
watch European football, especially the English premier league,” he
explains. “Most of our relationships are developed by trading stories
about football. When you have a good relationship with the fishermen it is
easier to communicate with them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Using the universal
language of sports, Naomab broke through barriers and earned a place alongside
his fishermen buddies, who all quickly absorbed his instructive and useful
lessons and mastered the skills needed to save seabirds. “Most of the
fisherman are quick to adopt the measures once you explain to them the
procedures and what is required of them,” he says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Naomab adds: “I
have always loved nature and everything that comes with it,” which is why
he eagerly accepted his job with the ATF, a move he initially regretted when he
realized he was prone to seasickness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:15.0pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:baseline;outline: none;
box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:
inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit'><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'>Now he laughs off those
early days of misery at sea, saying that, “My first few trips were hard,
because I used to get really sick. At first I didn’t know much about
seabirds, actually I never thought I would be involved with seabirds. As time
passed, I started noticing how beautiful and majestic these birds are, and at
the end of the day all those sleepless nights on the fishing vessels were worth
it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline;outline: none;box-sizing: border-box;font-style:inherit;font-variant:
inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch: inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:
inherit'><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Roboto","serif";
border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in'>FEEDBACK:<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="https://form.jotform.com/70284580836159"><span style='font-family:"inherit","serif";
color:#669900'>Use this form</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>to
send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public
comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:19.5pt;vertical-align:
baseline'><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:
0in'><a
href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25141029/2-bycatch.jpg"><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#669900;text-decoration:
none'><img border=0 width=732 height=512 id="Imagen_x0020_9"
src="cid:image008.jpg@01D2C338.462E25A0"
alt="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/25141029/2-bycatch-732x512.jpg"></span></a></span><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Roboto","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:19.5pt;
vertical-align:baseline'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Clemens
Naomab of the Albatross Task Force (ATF) cataloging seabirds. Photo courtesy of
the Albatross Task Force<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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