Internally Mounted Buoys
WHAT ARE INTERNALLY MOUNTED BUOYS?
Diving seabirds can be at risk of entanglement in externally mounted buoy lines in purse seine fishing gear. However, buoy lines in purse seine fishing gear can instead be internally mounted in relation to the main rope. The Chilean purse seine fishery have implemented this modification, so that the main rope passes directly through the buoys. Zippers are attached directly to the main rope, meaning that secondary ropes for buoys are not needed. This modification has been found to result in the reduced risk of entanglement for plunge diving birds.
Source: Suazo et al 2016
CURRENT RESEARCH & USE
Whilst this method is used by the Chilean purse seine fisheries, it could possibly be adapted for other purse seine fisheries. Further investigation is necessary to determine whether this is feasible (JNCC Seabird Bycatch Toolkit, Draft).
This page was last updated on 12.02.21.
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