Most types of seabirds are less active at night, so setting lines when it is dark means birds are less likely to eat baits and become hooked.
Effectiveness
Night setting can reduce seabird captures by 40% to 80% and scientific proof of this level of effectiveness is high.
Limitations
Some types of seabirds feed at night. When the moon is bright, some day-feeding seabirds also feed at night. Adding a bird-scaring line and line weighting reduces the risk of seabirds becoming hooked during this period.
More research is needed to understand how the time of setting lines affects captures of sharks and turtles.
Effect on fish catch
Research shows the effect on fish catch depends on:
- what types of fish are being targeted
- how deep the hooks are set compared to where the fish are
More research is needed to understand how the type of fishing gear and setting methods affect fish catch at night.
Minimum standards to be effective
Many seabirds feed at dawn and dusk. To be effective, line setting needs to begin after nautical dusk and before nautical dawn.
Suncalc is an online tool that has information about sunrise and sunset timings around the world.
Solving problems
Problem: At higher latitudes during summer, the night period is short
Solution: Other seabird-safe practices, like using hook-shielding devices or an underwater bait setter, may be more suited to these locations and times of year.
Problem: Crew cannot see if the bird-scaring line is correctly positioned over the baited hooks
Solution: Put the bird-scaring line out before setting begins.
Case study
Fishers in the Hawaiian swordfish fishery set their lines at night. They begin setting one hour after sunset and finish after midnight. The fishery carries out shallow sets which target swordfish when they come closer to the surface. Night setting has been shown to be very effective in reducing seabird captures in this fishery.
More information
Next steps: Learn about how to verify seabird safe practices
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