Research question re: Sea Birds

[electrosys]

I was mulling over the problems of long-line fishing whilst in the shower this morning (like you do ...), and it occurred to me that something very basic may have been overlooked by the experts.

For those who don't already know, when a long-line fishing vessel shoots it's line, one of the problems frequently encountered is that the seabirds circling overhead make a dive for the bait on the line, get themselves hooked, and duly drown.
Several quite complex methods have been devised in an attempt to get the line down as deeply underwater as soon as possible, to try to prevent such casualties.

What occurred to me in the shower this morning, is that whenever I've been offshore, I haven't been followed by a flock of seabirds looking for a free meal.
So - my thinking is that fishing vessels are sending out some kind of visual 'cue' to the birds that their vessel is a 'floating MacDonalds', whereas sailing boats do not. Maybe it's the size of boat, the presence (or not) of sails, and whether boxes of bait on deck can be seen from above.

So - before pursuing this line of enquiry any further, I thought it might be useful to canvas observations from folks on here - what has been your experience of being pursued (or not) by Sea Birds whilst at sea ?

 

[fisherman]

Not much long lining round this country now. The Japanese do a lot in the south Atlantic and spray a curtain of water over the stern to keep the birds off. I used to do a lot and only ever caught one gull, I was able to back up and get it in.
Gulls learn quickly, and will always turn over any piece of cloth or sack, because we use them to cover the bait.

 

[prv]

I think they just know what fishing boats look like. You and I can recognise one, why shouldn't they?

Apparently there was an attempt during one of the wars (I think WWI) to train seagulls to spot German periscopes. They deliberately fed seagulls from British submarines, so that if a U-boat tried to sneak in the gulls would follow it (like a fishing boat) and make it easy to see.

Don't think it worked.

Pete

 

[VicS]

long-line fishing whilst in the shower this morning

Just wondering what sea birds you were hoping to catch........ perhaps Lakey has a picture or two.

 

[electrosys]

I think they just know what fishing boats look like. You and I can recognise one, why shouldn't they?

Yep - I agree - they're not daft ...

So what is it that distinguishes a boat as being a fishing boat - from the air, obviously ?

If we could figure that out, then fishing boats could 'disguise' themselves as gin palaces, or fit some flapping 'sails' to look like a sailboat.

BTW - one of the latest solutions to the seabird by-catch problem is to build the boat with a 'moon pool' situated in the centre of the hull - so fishing then becomes a bit like how the eskimoes fish: through a hole in the ice !

Just wondering what sea birds you were hoping to catch........ perhaps Lakey has a picture or two.

Oh no, Vic - don't set him off so early in the New Year !

 

[Searush]

Fishing boats stink of fish, my boat does not. It may well stink of other stuff, but not fish! Gulls will pick that up from miles away.

Maybe fishing boats could be sprayed with Cologne?

 

[fishermantwo]

Long liners in Australian waters have to have their gear in the water before day break. Each boat also has to have a paid observer to do exactly that. Setliners and dropliners usually have their first drops in the water before daybreak as well. Droplining through the day will always attract birds.

These days I only sail but drag a lure and regularly have to put up with shearwaters chasing the lure.

Googling will show plenty of methods for reducing bird problems while long lining.

 

[electrosys]

If it's of interest to anyone - I looked up a reference to that 'Seagulls spotting Submarines' business, and apparently it did work - at least in principal ...

The reason it wasn't pursued further was because the Seagulls couldn't distinguish between enemy and friendly submarines, and so the position of Allied submarines was also being disclosed.

 

[electrosys]

Fishing boats stink of fish, my boat does not. It may well stink of other stuff, but not fish! Gulls will pick that up from miles away.

Maybe fishing boats could be sprayed with Cologne?

Well - that's interesting - apparently until fairly recently the scientific community held the consensus view that birds in general either had a poor sense of smell, or couldn't smell at all. And that's what I had assumed too.

But apparently not - and it appears that our friendly Seagulls were the first birds within which this error was discovered.

Ok - so I now need to find someone who has taken a new fishing boat out for the first time - i.e. with no stink on board.

Excellent - I might just be making some progress.

 

[fisherman]

Gulls get used to the vessels in their area, we get the same birds aboard all the time. I think they recognise the boat, and if within a half mile can see the motion of anything being thrown overboard (unfortunately for them they can't discriminate between fish and the contents of a bucket, until they pick it up). They also spot the movement of other gulls feeding. However, there are days when we don't see one, they must be feeding elsewhere.
One fisherman used to feed his 'pet' gull by reaching out of the door to put crumbs on the wheelhouse roof. Hearing no pecking noise one day he stuck his head out to check and the gull grabbed his ear.