Some of our materials were developed for both purse seine and longline fishers. Others are specific to either purse seine or longline fishing. In July 2019, we introduced our first guidebook for pole-and-line tuna fishers.
Skippers workshop attendance, workshop video viewing, or guidebook completion fulfill the requirement for ISSF conservation measure 3.4.
Skippers Guidebooks, for purse seine and longline crews, are available at our Guidebooks site in Web page or downloadable PDF format. They include information on sustainability, bycatch, and fisheries management.
We also have a pole-and-line skippers guidebook, in English and PDF format. The guidebook is a joint publication of ISSF and the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF).
At the end of each purse-seine and longline guidebook, there are links to “feedback forms” in the same languages as the guidebooks. Fishers should fill out the form after they have finished reading a guidebook. There is no feedback form or certification related to the ISSF/IPNLF pole-and-line guidebook.
Follow these steps to gain certification for completing a guidebook:
Skippers and others who cannot attend ISSF workshops in person can watch Skippers Workshop videos on the ISSF YouTube channel. The workshop videos are for purse-seine crew.
At the end of each video, there is a Web address for a “feedback form.” Go to that Web page to complete and submit the form to gain certification.
Workshop videos are in English, with Chinese subtitles, Korean subtitles, and Spanish subtitles available.
Our 2019 edition of this guide for fishers and others included detailed guidance on constructing fish aggregating devices (FADs) that are biodegradable as well as non-entangling. The Non-Entangling and Biodegradable FADs Guide can be downloaded in several languages.
These bycatch mitigation posters, courtesy of ISSF Seafood Sustainability Contest Grand Prize Winner Melissa Cronin, are designed to help fishers identify ray species and follow recommended handing techniques.
The Skippers Workshop team has developed posters for purse-seine fishers to illustrate “best practices” for handling and releasing sharks, manta rays, and sea turtles that are incidentally caught. The posters are based on the best practices for bycatch-handling guidebook produced by Poisson et al. 2012.
ISSF has created infographics showing best-practice techniques for handling and releasing incidentally caught sharks in purse-seine fisheries.
ISSF has created infographics showing best-practice techniques for handling incidentally caught turtles in longline fisheries. Download the infographics as PDFs:
ISSF’s YouTube site has videos for longline fishers on the best handling practices and hook removal techniques for sea turtles and seabirds, which can be incidentally caught in their fisheries.
The video on sea turtle handling and hook removal is available in these languages:
For seabirds, we have a video in English on seabird bycatch. With BirdLife International, ISSF co-sponsored a video on seabird bycatch mitigation in longline fisheries, available in several languages.
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