Seabird-Safe Fishing Toolkit

The Seabird-Safe Fishing Toolkit (the toolkit) supports tuna businesses in adapting to the expectations of consumers and in carrying out their work towards seabird-safe fishing. It was developed over the course of two years with social research processes to engage mitigation science experts and end users, and processes designed to use available evidence to develop and define simple categories for 1) seabird ocean zones 2) the effectiveness of mitigation options at reducing seabird captures, 3) the seabird-safeness of specific fisheries, and 4) the level of confidence that the measures are implemented. Toolkit categories for how seabird-safe a fishery is takes into account ocean zones and mitigation effectiveness.

RECOMMENDATIONS We recommend that SBWG: 1. note the development of a Seabird-Safe Fishing Toolkit which is aimed to support tuna businesses adapt to the expectations of consumers and carry out their work towards seabird-safe longline fishing. 2. note the methodology developed to identify and define simple categories to describe the effectiveness of seabird bycatch mitigation options, how seabirdsafe a fishery is, and how reliable verification tools are in confirming mitigation is used. 3. consider the role that ACAP could play in helping to maintain the currency of science and technical information in the toolkit and the promotion of the use of the toolkit. 4. consider the role that ACAP could play in further expanding the toolkit to encompass other fisheries beyond large vessel pelagic longline fisheries, including potential partnership and/or co-branding on the toolkit