The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council has concluded that flying bird-scaring devices over longline boats is not necessary, since alternate methods of keeping seabirds from biting baited hooks are sufficient.

Federal observers working on longline boats during the past year found that alternative techniques can reduce the bird catch significantly. The swordfish fishery hooked 67 albatrosses during the first half of 2005, down from roughly 3,000 caught during the five years from 1994 to 1999. Many caught birds are killed when they are dragged underwater with longline gear.

A proposal by the council, a federal advisory group, would require longline fishing boats to use two other techniques. One involves several actions, including limiting the fishing period from an hour after sunset to an hour before sunrise, dumping fish heads and guts away from fishing lines, and dyeing bait blue to make it harder for the birds to spot.

But the overhead bird-scaring lines, proposed by the council in 2004, would not be required.

The second technique is "side-setting," in which the bait and hooks are fed off the side of the boat. The gear is shielded from seabirds by the boat itself and is able to sink before most birds can get at it. The council also is recommending a reduction in the size of minimum weight used to sink baits, from about 2 ounces to 1.5 ounces.

Industry observers said that 30 to 40 of Hawai'i's 120 longline boats already have converted to side-setting, which can be done rather inexpensively on most boats. Additional boats are expected to move to side-setting, and not only because of the reduced bird take, said Jim Cook, a part-owner of five longline fishing boats.

"For a lot of boats it means moving the gear around on the deck less. I've been surprised at how it does some nice things for boats," he said.

A few boats, notably those with twin propellers that may tend to tangle side-setting gear, may have difficulty with the conversion, Cook said.

Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff argued that side-setting should be the required standard. He said it is not clear that the dramatic reduction in bird take seen in the past year is a direct result of night-setting and blue bait, or whether perhaps it's due to a reduced number of birds in the fishing area.

"A study showed that blue-dyed bait is not very effective. But the same study concluded that side-setting is very effective and not particularly expensive," he said.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.