27th November

We had 2 rolly days while steaming south, W-NW 35-40kts with rough sea. Thankfully the weather was mainly on our stbd beam and didn’t slow our speed too much.

We entered CCAMLR at 60 00s 172 30e, from there we enjoyed a slight S-SE breeze with calm conditions. Sea temp 2, Air temp -3.

Now that we’re through the worst weather between 45s and 60s it’s a good chance to get the fishing gear ready on deck before the temp really starts dropping.

In the photo the boys are rigging the ice fender, it’s used to keep ice away from our line while were hauling. The ice maps are looking quite good this year and I expect the northern quota will be taken sooner than last season. After that we follow the maze of leads and tracks that will eventually give us access to the Ross Sea.

For now we search about the fishing spots to find the best area to start. The trick is, to find somewhere with good fishing and the least ice. Even though we can fish through scattered floes of broken ice, doing so slows us up considerably. It’s much better to be in clear water working more lines if we can.

From bottom left: Richard, Sandy, Sam, Ronan, Dwane, Blain. Top left: Brady and Jamie.

Rgds: John B.

26th November 2009

Steaming South.

Its about 1,300 mile from Timaru to the Northern Ross Sea ice edge, it’ll take us around 6 days to get there if the weather is reasonable. (Unreasonable weather is more than likely).

Information we have indicates the ice is thawing faster this season than it did in 2008 and 2007, however, our records show much less sea ice during 2000 to 2005 than we’ve seen for the last 4 seasons. With global warming the hot topic of the day, we do not see it happening in the Ross Sea in recent years. 

The first job we must do before exiting NZ waters is check the sink rate of our lines to be sure they comply with guidelines set by CCAMLR. These guidelines have proven to be effective in the Ross Sea resulting in a zero seabird by-catch for all vessels involved in the fishery since it began 11 years ago. (Every vessel has at least one international observer aboard, the four NZ vessels carry two observers each, this is to help with the additional research we undertake). The line sink test is carefully monitored by both observers with the results sent to the Ministry of Fisheries (our lines must sink at no less than 0.3m per second) after that we receive a “warrant of fitness” allowing us to proceed to the fishing grounds.

Some of the crew making up fishing gear in the TV lounge. From left: Matthys (The CCAMLR observer lending a hand), Hamish (The Cook), Blain, Patrick, Adam and Sandy.

24th November 2009

Preparations in Timaru for sailing went well, most of the crew had arrived by Thursday 19th for an all day ACC training seminar while Francois and I were at the Wellington briefing. On Friday / Saturday fuel and stores were loaded leaving Saturday night for the boys to celebrate Christmas, New year, birthdays and whatever else they will miss during the next 10 or 12 weeks at sea. Amazingly, all crew turned too at 08:00hrs Sunday morning for last minute stores and lock down hatchers for sailing.

Just before we left the wharf, Greg (Sanfords deep water fleet manager), came aboard and wished us well for the coming season and a reminder about safety on board in Antarctic conditions. He also explained the conditions and changes to our permit from last season and emphasized the importance of compliance in an internationally managed fishery.

The weather forecast looks reasonable and I expect we will enter CCAMLR waters on about the 26th. However, I don’t think we have to travel too far south to find our 1st ice berg, by all accounts they are drifting north to meet us this year.

Greg J addressing the crew in the mess room just before sailing at noon on Sunday.

 Rgds: John B.

22nd November 2009

During the last month we have all been busy with preparations for the 2009-10 Ross Sea Toothfish season.

It all starts in Hobart where CCAMLR (Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) members gather every year. Scientists and government officials from around the world convene to set and agree on sustainable catch allocations for all fishing within the CCAMLR jurisdiction. This includes area 88.1 and 88.2 which we regard as our Ross Sea fishery.

For us, the outcome was great….. Once again, all four New Zealand vessels were allocated licenses and the scientists have recommended a slight increase for the total allowable Toothfish catch for the coming season. But, there are a few more regulations and research requirements attached to our permit conditions this season.

The CCAMLR round of negotiations is followed by another meeting in Wellington just before we sail for the Ross Sea. This time, representatives from MFAT (Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade), MFISH (Ministry of Fisheries), the Observer Program, NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmosphere), SEAFIC (Seafood Industry Council), RCCNZ (Rescue Coordination Centre NZ), LINZ (Land Information NZ) and our team from the ITC (Industry Toothfish Committee) all get together to make sure everyone is up to speed with the latest research and permit requirements. Every year the number of participants to this meeting increases, this time there were around 43 people attending and everyone was involved in some way with the Ross Sea Toothfish Fishery.

Francois lining up with people from the Observer program, NIWA, Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Fishery for lunch.

Jeff (Skipper of Janas for Sealord), Pete (Skipper of San Aotea II), Me, Greg (Sanford Deep Water Fleet manager), Trevor (MFAT), Jack (Sanford research and developments).

We sail south on Sunday 22nd November 12:00hrs…..by all accounts I don’t think we have to go far to see our first ice berg.

Rgds: John B.

6th September 2009

Going around Cape Horn is a milestone in any seaman’s life. For many of this crew it’s their first time while some of us have made the passing several times. This time we all assembled in the wheelhouse for another family photo followed by a shot of Navy Rum that some friends from Port Stanley had given us just for the occasion.

The weather was reasonable for the Cape with 25-30kts westerly and a strong westerly set at about 1.5kts reducing our speed to 7.4kts for the day’s run around the Horn.

From here we have around 4,500 mile to steam before we reach Timaru. We will take the rum line, steaming straight west. The shorter, great circle route, would take us too far south into the ice, that is not a good option on a south-westerly course into the prevailing weather.

This will be our last Blog for the next 20 days as not much happens between now and then.

From Left, Thaio, Aaron, Sue, Ritchie, Chevy, Matt, Francois, Marli, Jamie, Laurie, Shane, Jake, Noel, Jessie, Greg, Juliet, Carl and Sandy(Missing from the photo is Dave the 2nd engineer and me with the camera).

Rgds: John B.

4th September 2009

As the wharf space in Port Stanley is limited, when the catch verification process is finished, and we have loaded the stores and supplies we need for the trip home, we must move away and allow the next boat in line to start their verification process.

The last thing we need is about 154 ton of fuel to top up our tanks before we head home. Usually we do that from the wharf, but at this time, shore supplies were low and we had to go alongside a small trading fuel tanker in Berkley Sound, just around the corner from Port Stanley. That went well, and we were finally on our way by 02:30hrs on Friday morning. First waypoint is for Cape Horne, about a day ½ South-west from the Falklands.

This shot was taken just before we left the wharf at Port Stanley.
From left, Grant, Masa and Shooter have been aboard since April and are looking forward to the flight home on Saturday, it’s been a long haul for them, 5 months at sea. Migs (from Sulivan Shipping) has been our agent for the last 4 seasons and he takes care of coordinating customs, port authorities, stores, equipment and just about anything we need while we’re at the Falklands. Dean (on the right) is our vessel manager, he has flown over from NZ to meet the ship. Dean is kept busy during the verification process working alongside the MSC people that weigh our fish and eventually issue the very important  “Catch Documentation” paperwork.

Rgds: John B.

2nd September 2009

Port Stanley when the sun comes out looking South West.

We have been alongside the wharf in Port Stanley for 3 days now and the crew have just finished reloading. This is called the “catch verification process”, we must unload all of catch and have the weight checked by inspectors from the South Georgia government. This has to be done to satisfy requirements for MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) accreditation. Without this we can not sell our fish anywhere in the world.

Each fish is wrapped in a plastic bag, the big fish go into sacks and the smaller fish are packed in 20kg boxes. Each sack and box has a barcode label that is scanned during the unload. At the end, our reported catch figures must be the same, or very close, to the figures the inspectors have before they will officially verify our catch. This season we had a difference of 0.08%. To the best of our knowledge nobody has come close to that level of accuracy in this fishery before. We’re patting ourselves on the back for that.

Unloading in the snow, FIPASS wharf, Stanley.

Reloading from the holding containers, into the cargo nets to be lifted back aboard.

Tomorrow we take bunkers (Fuel) and start heading for home.

Rgds: John B.

31st August 2009

It’s a 26 hour day today as we turn the clocks back 2 hours to Falkland Island local time. We have been steaming west from South Georgia into a force 8 gale with sleet and snow for the last 3 days and the prospect of laying still alongside the huge floating barges that form the Port Stanley wharf, and a stroll on the beach after 72 days at sea in the Southern Ocean, is much like anticipating a summer holiday or the start of a long vacation.

But it’s not over yet, we still have to unload and reload out catch for the verification process, (That all takes about 3 days) take on fuel and stores and make ready for the long haul home.

A small Patagonian Toothfish.

Rgds: John B.

28th August 2009

Our South Georgia season is coming to an end now. Yesterday we hauled the last line and started steaming for Port Stanley. With reasonable weather conditions we should be docking on about the 31st Aug, right now we have 45kts NE, not so comfortable for steaming. It’s a good feeling to finally be on the way home, but the work isn’t over yet, now we have the big clean up. During the trip the processing factory is cleaned regularly and kept up to standard for our fish pack house license. But now, everything to do with the fishing operation is dismantled, checked, repaired if necessary and then put back together and made ready for the next fishing operation, whenever that may be.

From now on, it’s the long haul back to NZ from ½ way around the world.

A shift change, from left, Juliet, Jake, Sandy coming on shift while Sue and Shane knock off and head to the mess room for dinner.

Jake doing his cleaning duties. Jake and Aaron are responsible for keeping the changing room tidy. The rest of the crew are all allocated different parts of the ship on their cleaning roster.

Rgds: John B.

22nd August 2009

As part of our licensing requirements in the South Georgia & South Sandwich fishery we must undertake to tag and release a percentage of the Toothfish we catch.

This season we have tagged almost 800 fish from both areas. At US$18.00 per kilo that equates to about NZ $75,000 worth of Toothfish we have tagged and returned to the water. It is a high price to pay but necessary for the proper, effective management of a sustainable fishery.

So far this trip we have recaptured and recorded details off 106 previously tagged Toothfish, 14 of those fish were tagged by us during the last 4 seasons we have fished in South Georgia.

 

In this photo, Masa has carried this fish from the hauling station to the live fish holding tank where it will calm down for a while before being measured, weighed, tagged and then released.

 

 

In the second photo, Sandy and Juliet are tagging Toothfish. There are about 6 more fish in the tank waiting to be done. Then we have to choose our moment to put them in the water otherwise the Seals will get them before they’ve gone 10 metres. Sometimes we have to hold them in the tank for hours before letting them go.

Rgds: John B.