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The ACAP Secretariat has recently hosted the secondment of Jorge Azócar Rangel from Chile's Instituto de Fomento Pesquero (IFOP) at its headquarters in Hobart, Australia.

Jorge is based in the IFOP Valparaiso Office, where he works as an ‘Investigador' in IFOP's Departamento de Evaluación de Pesquerias.

Graham Robertson (Australian Antarctic Division), Jorge Azócar, Wieslawa Misiak (ACAP Secretariat) and Ian Hay (Australian Antarctic Division) outside the AAD offices in Kingston, Tasmania

While in Hobart Jorge's extensive knowledge of fisheries observer programmes was utilised to develop data protocols for registering the interactions between seabirds and pelagic longline fishing operations.  A second component of his three-month secondment (December 2011 - February 2012) was to analyse bycatch information submitted by ACAP Parties to the Secretariat, to determine if it can deliver the products required in evaluating bycatch (task 3.11a in the Advisory Committee's 2012 Work Programme).

Jorge also provided valuable assistance with the development of a seabird identification guide, being developed by the Secretariat for use in tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (tRFMOs).  While in Tasmania Jorge also participated in a one-week observer training course conducted by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), which provided an opportunity for an exchange of knowledge between the Australian and Chilean observer programmes.

Jorge attended the last meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee, held in Guayaquil, Ecuador last year, as an advisor on the Chilean Delegation.

Marcelo Garcia Alvarado and Jorge Azócar represented Chile at the  Sixth Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee, Guayaquil, Ecuador, August/September 2011

Warren Papworth, ACAP Executive Secretary, 13 March 2012