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title: "Namibia tests steel weights to fast-sink longlines beyond the reach of albatrosses and petrels"
---

# Namibia tests steel weights to fast-sink longlines beyond the reach of albatrosses and petrels

BirdLife International's [Albatross Task Force](http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/albatross/) is comparing 5-kg steel weights with the standard concrete weights used by the demersal longline fishery in Namibia.  The FV *Joao N Castro* sailed a few days ago from Walvis Bay with John Paterson of the Namibian section of the task force aboard to conduct the experimental work.

 ![](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Mitigation/namibia_weight_expt.jpg)  
Loading steel weights onto the  FV *Joao N Castro* in Walvis Bay, Namibia  
Photograph courtesy of the Albatross Task Force

 "The problem with concrete weights is that they get damaged quickly and loose mass, resulting in slow-sinking gear.  Effective line weighting is the most important factor of best practice mitigation for demersal longline fishing... . By making a direct comparison with standard gear, we will be able to measure the sink rate [and] identify the level of seabird bycatch and fish catch associated with different weighting configurations."

 Namibian waters fall within the nutrient-rich Benguela Upwelling System that supports large populatios of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters of a number of species.

 ![](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Petrels/S/Spectacled/Spectacled_Petrel_by_Ross_Wanless.jpg)  
Spectacled Petrels occur in Namibian waters where they are risk to longlines  
Photograph by Ross Wanless

 [Click here](http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/getinvolved/b/albatross/archive/2012/06/21/atf-trial-new-line-weighting-on-namibian-longline-vessel.aspx) for more information.

 With thanks to Oli Yates.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 25 June 2012*