2007 Runner-Up Prize Winners ($10,000 each)
© Courtesy of Diego González Zevallos
Cone device on warp cable cone at surface water
The Traffic Cone - Diego Gonzalez Zevallos, Argentina
DESIGN OF THE TRAFFIC CONE
On the street, a traffic cone warns drivers away from potholes and other dangers; attached to a fishing trawler, a new device named the Traffic Cone warns seabirds away from perilous contact with warp cables.Thousands of seabirds are injured or killed every year as they feed on fishing boat discards. As they dive for discards floating in the wake, birds can be struck by the cables, dragged underwater, and drowned. The Traffic Cone reduces the volume of seabird bycatch by making the cables more visible.
The 1-meter-long orange plastic cone measures 10 centimeters in diameter at one end and 20 at the other. A cone is attached to each of the trawler's warp cables. It opens in half to allow easy deployment from the deck, and has a rope to help lower the device to where the cable enters the water.
The traffic cone employs size and high color contrast to increase detection of the forward moving cable by scavenging birds. It is a simple, cost-effective, practical device that could be easily applied in trawl fisheries operating in Argentine waters and around the world. Given the impact of this particular bycatch problem on seabird populations, increased effort should be put into the testing of measures that decrease the cable-related mortality associated with high seas trawlers.
Diego González Zevallos, designer of the Traffic Cone
© Courtesy of Diego González Zevallos
Traffic Cone device in use during field testing.
FIELD TESTS OF THE TRAFFIC CONE
During high season in January - February 2006, the Traffic Cone was tested aboard a commercial hake trawler operating in Golfo San Jorge, one of the most important seabird areas in Argentina.Cones were set in 12 of 22 alternate hauls over the course of eight fishing days, and the numbers of fatal and non-fatal contacts were recorded. At five-minute intervals, observers estimated the distance from the cone maintained by the three closest seabirds. An average bird-to-cone distance was calculated for each haul.
In hauls employing Traffic Cones, no seabirds were killed and the number of warp cable contacts was reduced by 89 percent; in hauls without the device, 11 fatalities were recorded. Kelp gulls and black-browed albatross were present in all the trawls. Among the 11-man trawler crew, nine thought the device did not affect fishing practices and eight expressed willingness to adopt the device.
© Courtesy of Diego González Zevallos
Diego González Zevallos works to free a seabird caught in a fishing net.
THE WINNER
Diego González Zevallos, a marine biologist for the Centro Nacional Patagónico in Argentina, has worked for the last five years onboard commercial fishing vessels including ice and freezer trawlers and artisanal longliners.He has focused on gathering data on seabirds, fish, invertebrates and marine mammals, with particular emphasis on the use of discards by seabirds in the trawl fisheries in Golfo San Jorge, Patagonia Argentina.
Institutional support for the development and testing of the Traffic Cone came from the Centro Nacional Patagónico, logistical support from Secretaría de Pesca de la Provincia de Chubut, and financial support from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Fundacion Patagonia Natural.