Council Regulation (EC) No 41/2006Show full title

PART II Guidelines for Design and Deployment of Tori Lines

1. These guidelines are designed to assist in the preparation and implementation of tori line regulations for longline fishing vessels. While these guidelines are relatively explicit, improvement in tori line effectiveness through experimentation is encouraged. The guidelines take into account environmental and operational variables such as weather conditions, setting speed and ship size, all of which influence tori line performance and design in protecting baits from birds. Tori line design and use may change to take account of these variables provided that line performance is not compromised. Ongoing improvement in tori line design is envisaged and consequently review of these guidelines should be undertaken in the future.

2. Tori Line Design

2.1. It is recommended that a tori line 150 m in length be used. The diameter of the section of the line in the water may be greater than that of the line above water. This increases drag and hence reduces the need for greater line length and takes account of setting speeds and length of time taken for baits to sink. The section above water should be a string fine line (e; g. about 3 mm diameter) of a conspicuous colour such as red or orange.

2.2. The above water section of the line should be sufficiently light that its movement is unpredictable to avoid habituation by birds and sufficiently heavy to avoid deflection of the line by wind.

2.3. The line is best attached to the vessel with a robust barrel swivel to reduce tangling of the line.

2.4. The streamers should be made of material that is conspicuous and produces an unpredictable lively action (e.g. strong fine line sheathed in red polyurethane tubing) suspended from a robust three-way swivel (that again reduces tangles) attached to the tori line, and should hang just clear of the water.

2.5. There should be a maximum of 5-7 m between each streamer. Ideally each streamer should be paired.

2.6. Each streamer pair should be detachable by means of a clip so that line stowage is more efficient.

2.7. The number of streamers should be adjusted for the setting speed of the vessel, with more streamers necessary at slower setting speeds. Three pairs are appropriate for a setting speed of 10 knots.

3. Deployment of Tori Lines

3.1. The line should be suspended from a pole affixed to the vessel. The tori pole should be set as high as possible so that the line protects bait a good distance astern of the vessel and will not tangle with the fishing gear. Grater pole height provides greater bait protection. For example, a height of around 6 m above the water line can give about 100 m of bait protection.

3.2. The tori line should be set so that streamers pass over baited hooks in the water.

3.3. Deployment of multiple tori lines is encouraged to provide even greater protections of baits from birds.

3.4. Because there is the potential for line breakage and tangling, spare tori lines should be carried on board to replace damaged lines and to ensure fishing operations can continue uninterrupted.

3.5. When fishers use a bait casting machine (BCM) they must ensure co-ordination of the tori line and machine by:

a)

ensuring the BCM throws directly under the tori line protection and;

b)

when using a BCM that allows throwing to port and starboard, ensure that two tori lines are used.

3.6. Fishermen are encouraged to install manual, electric of hydraulic winches to improve ease of deployment and retrieval of tori lines.