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Skippers Resources & Certification

In addition to in-person Skippers Workshops, we offer other sustainable fishing resources for tuna fishers — including guidebooks, species identification guides, videos, infographics, and posters on bycatch mitigation.

Some of our materials were developed for both purse seine and longline fishers. Others are specific to either purse seine or longline fishing. In July 2019, we introduced our first guidebook for pole-and-line tuna fishers.

Skippers workshop attendance, workshop video viewing, or guidebook completion fulfill the requirement for ISSF conservation measure 3.4.

RESOURCES FOR PURSE SEINE, LONGLINE, & POLE-AND-LINE FISHERS

ISSF Skippers Guidebooks

Skippers Guidebooks, for purse seine and longline crews, are available at our Guidebooks site in Web page or downloadable PDF format. They include information on sustainability, bycatch, and fisheries management.

  • The Web page versions of the longline and purse seine guidebooks are in English.
  • PDF versions of our longline and purse seine guidebooks are available in Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, English, French, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. We also offer some as ePubs.

We also have a pole-and-line skippers guidebook in English and PDF format. The guidebook is a joint publication of ISSF and the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF).

Certification for Fishers Completing Guidebooks

At the end of each purse-seine and longline guidebook, there are links to “feedback forms” in the same languages as the guidebooks. Fishers should fill out the form after they have finished reading a guidebook. There is no feedback form or certification related to the ISSF/IPNLF pole-and-line guidebook.

Follow these steps to gain certification for completing a guidebook:

  • Find the guidebook that applies to you, either purse seine or longline.
  • Choose the format that’s convenient for you:
    • Web page version of the guidebook OR
    • PDF version of the guidebook
  • Read the entire guidebook.
  • At the end of the guidebook, look for the “feedback form” link.
  • Click the link, fill in the form, and then submit the form.

RESOURCES FOR PURSE SEINE FISHERS ONLY

Skippers Workshop Videos

Skippers and others who cannot attend ISSF workshops in person can watch Skippers Workshop videos on the ISSF YouTube channel. The workshop videos are for purse-seine crew.

At the end of each video, there is a Web address for a “feedback form.” Go to that Web page to complete and submit the form to gain certification.

Workshop videos are in English, with Chinese subtitlesKorean subtitles, and Spanish subtitles available.

Non-Entangling & Biodegradable FADs Guide

Our 2019 edition of this guide for fishers and others included detailed guidance on constructing fish aggregating devices (FADs) that are biodegradable as well as non-entangling. The Non-Entangling and Biodegradable FADs Guide can be downloaded in several languages.

Mobula Ray Posters

These bycatch mitigation posters, courtesy of ISSF Seafood Sustainability Contest Grand Prize Winner Melissa Cronin, are designed to help fishers identify ray species and follow recommended handing techniques. 

Posters on Bycatch Mitigation Best Practices

The Skippers Workshop team has developed posters for purse-seine fishers to illustrate “best practices” for handling and releasing sharks, manta rays, and sea turtles that are incidentally caught. The posters are based on the best practices for bycatch-handling guidebook produced by Poisson et al. 2012.

Infographics on Bycatch Mitigation Best Practices

ISSF has created infographics showing best-practice techniques for handling and releasing incidentally caught sharks in purse-seine fisheries.


RESOURCES FOR LONGLINE FISHERS ONLY

Infographics on Bycatch Mitigation Best Practices

ISSF has created infographics showing best-practice techniques for handling incidentally caught turtles in longline fisheries. Download the infographics as PDFs:

Videos on Bycatch Mitigation Best Practices

ISSF’s YouTube site has videos for longline fishers on the best handling practices and hook removal techniques for sea turtles and seabirds, which can be incidentally caught in their fisheries.

The video on sea turtle handling and hook removal is available in these languages:

For seabirds, we have a video in English on seabird bycatch. With BirdLife International, ISSF co-sponsored a video on seabird bycatch mitigation in longline fisheries, available in several languages.

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