Short Talk (7,5 mins) Australian Marine Sciences Association 2022

Bins on Boats: improving vessel waste practices to reduce marine mammal entanglement (#441)

Rebecca McIntosh 1 , Simon Boag 2 , Alex Kusmanoff 3 , Sarah Bekessy 3
  1. Phillip Island Nature Parks, Cowes, VICTORIA, Australia
  2. South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association, Lakes Entrance, VIC, Australia
  3. ICON Science, School of Global Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

The ‘Bins on Boats’ program offered 100 custom built bins to fishing vessels domiciled in Victoria to improve the retention of rubbish onboard and reduce the prevalence of fur seal entanglement in commercial fishing waste. While most marine plastic is urban sourced, fur seals are predominantly entangled in netting, ropes and recreational fishing line - generally locally specific and in current use. Phillip Island Nature Parks, the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFIA) and RMIT University partnered on the project, funded by the Victorian Government. Three key assessment measures included the uptake of the bins by operators, an increase in rubbish retained onboard vessels and the prevalence of entanglement of Australian fur seals. The program was popular with 92 bins taken by 48 vessels, representing approximately 64% of the fleet. Average volume (per vessel) of rubbish returned to shore increased from 31 L before the program to 66 L after and we recorded an increased retention of broken fishing gear. Unexpectedly, entanglement of fur seals in net material reduced over the three years of the project. While we are optimistic that this can be attributed to the project, monitoring for another two years will allow a more robust assessment.