NOAA Fisheries is implementing new management measures for Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), reflecting international standards developed through years of negotiations to govern the use of FADs. International standards are designed to monitor and control fishing effort using FADs, reduce entangling marine life, and ensure that FAD use remains sustainable in the long-term.
In the 1990s tuna fishermen increasingly turned to FADs, usually constructed of nets and bamboo, as setting around schools of dolphins became increasingly unacceptable. About 120 vessels, including about 20 US vessels, currently fish with FADs in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
FADs primarily attract skipjack tuna, which is now the dominant tuna species in the US canned tuna market. Vessels have deployed an increasing number of FADs each year, with a few foreign vessels each releasing up to 500 FADs in 2016. Since FADs also attract bigeye tuna, the catch of that species has also increased, from about 10,000 tonnes in 1993 to 56,000 tonnes in 2016.
As the use of FADs increased, fishery scientists and managers and NGOs around the world questioned the impacts on juvenile tuna, which are essential to the health of the species. Some also questioned impacts on other species such as sharks and sea turtles.
The US fishing industry raised concerns about FAD practices in other countries and the need for consistent management.
‘The US tuna fleet supports management of FADs and regards it as fundamental that any FAD management be done internationally and on a scientific basis,’ said Brian Hallman, Executive Director of the American Tunaboat Association.
NOAA Fisheries and the US Department of State worked with the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), an RFMO established by two treaties, to develop marking and data collection requirements for FADs. These measures required all IATTC member nations and co-operating countries to consistently mark FADs and enabled IATTC to collect information to better understand the scope and magnitude of FAD fishing in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
In 2017, IATTC adopted restrictions on the deployment and retrieval of FADs. NOAA Fisheries is now implementing those measures, ensuring that US vessels use FADs safely and sustainably. The measures also require fishermen to report actively deployed FADs and construct FADs in ways that reduce the risk of entanglement of marine life.
FAD research by organisations such as the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) was instrumental in developing these management measures.
‘We’ve been conducting both on and off-the-water experiments with FADs and hosting workshops with fishers and scientists for years now. Through that research and engagement, we’re pleased to say that, as of 2017, all four major tuna RFMOs are on board with some degree of a non-entangling FAD management measure,’ said Holly Koehler, Vice President for Policy & Outreach at ISSF.
NOAA Fisheries will continue to participate in IATTC’s FAD working group and promote science-based management of FADs in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
‘It is encouraging to see IATTC nations as well as industry and non-governmental groups work together on FAD monitoring and management in the eastern Pacific Ocean,’ said Rachael Wadsworth of NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. ‘We intend to continue to make progress on these issues as a member of the IATTC.’
