A new fishing gear in the Chilean Patagonian toothfish fishery
to minimise interactions with toothed whales with associated benefits to seabird conservation

We describe a new fishing technique, called the Chilean system, adapted from an artisan fishery for Patagonian Toothfish. The artisan system was modified to include a net sleeve that is placed on secondary vertical lines, which has practically eliminated depredation by killer whales and sperm whales. In addition to this, each 15 m-long vertical line carry a weight at the end, this sinks baited hooks at up to 0.80 m/sec. This fast sink rate causes the line to sink immediately behind the vessel preventing seabirds from seeing the baited hooks at the surface. Additionally, this system does not reduce CPUE when compared to the traditional Spanish longline system. We evaluate the performance of this fishing technique with regard to seabird mortality and depredation of sperm whales and killer whales on fish catch rate during the season September-December 2006 in the fishery of the Drake Passage in Chilean waters.