Southern Seabird Solutions
Conservation through cooperation
Media Release
13 December 2002
Award For Seabird-Safe Nz Fisher
New Zealand fisher John Bennett from Sanford Ltd has received international recognition for his seabird-safe fishing
practices.
Mr Bennett was given the Golden Albatross Award at the recent Second International Fishers Forum in Hawaii.
The four-day forum provides an opportunity for fishers from around the world to exchange ideas and techniques to avoid
catching seabirds in the course of fishing.
Several members of Southern Seabird Solutions attended the forum. Southern Seabird Solutions is an alliance of
representatives from some of New Zealand’s key fishing companies, environmental groups and government agencies who are
working together to promote the international conservation of seabirds.
The coordinator of Southern Seabird Solutions, Janice Molloy from the Department of Conservation, says John Bennett won
the Golden Albatross for his unstinting efforts to improve practices on his vessels so that seabirds would not be caught
during the course of fishing.
“John has inspired his crew to take this issue very seriously and a host of different measures are used on the vessel
the San Aotea II,” she says.
“These include a very sophisticated set of streamer lines that hang above the fishing line to deter seabirds from taking
baited hooks, a ‘jiggler’ that keeps the line moving so it is more visible to the birds, a noise cannon that scares the
birds away, and weights that carry the baited hooks down quickly out of reach of the seabirds.”
The Golden Albatross Award was presented to Mr Bennett by the executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery
Management Council, Kitty Simonds.
“The search for practices to conserve sensitive species is a long and challenging road that is sometimes discouraging
and sometimes inspiring. Occasionally someone emerges that gives hope and inspiration to everyone around him or her, and
raises the bar for performance and commitment.”
Sanford Ltd managing director Eric Barratt says he is pleased to see John Bennett’s efforts recognised at an
international level.
“John has long been one of the forerunners in the development and use of seabird-safe fishing practices. He commands
great respect for this amongst New Zealand skippers, but the Golden Albatross Award has put his work into perspective on
the world stage. We are extremely proud to have him working here with us.”
Janice Molloy says there was a lot of interest in the formation of Southern Seabird Solutions and several countries were
considering establishing similar alliances with fishing and environmental representatives.
ENDS
About Southern Seabird Solutions:
- It was formed in July 2002 at a workshop in Nelson, convened by the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of
Fisheries to develop a programme to promote the international conservation of seabirds.
- It includes representatives from key fishing companies (such as Sanford, Sealord, New Zealand Longline and Moana
Pacific), environmental groups (such as WWF, Birdlife International) and government agencies (Department of
Conservation, Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
- Southern Seabird Solutions was established to foster the widespread use of seabird-safe fishing practices by fleets
operating in New Zealand and in other parts of the southern ocean. Because the albatrosses and petrels that breed in New
Zealand migrate to other parts of the world where they are caught by longline fleets, a global approach to promoting
solutions is needed.
- Southern Seabird Solutions aims to establish cooperative projects with other southern hemisphere countries so that
expertise and knowledge are more freely exchanged. This will accelerate progress in solving the capture of albatrosses
and petrels in fishing operations.