Stakeholders' views on methods to identify the ownership and track the position of drifting fish aggregating devices used by tuna purse seine fisheries
Fish aggregating devices (FADs) used by tuna purse seine fisheries improve fishing efficiency relative to other purse seine fishing strategies and make it possible to successfully fish in new areas.
However, when not responsibly managed, FADs can cause adverse effects.
Use of physical and electronic methods to assign a unique identification code and track the position of drifting FADs can contribute to improved monitoring, understanding and management of drifting FADs’ ecological and socio-economic effects.
In 2016 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) convened an Expert Consultation on the Marking of Fishing Gear, resulting in the development of Draft Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear.
Recognizing challenges with applying conventional methods of marking fishing gear to identify drifting FAD ownership and to implement a recommendation made by the Committee on Fisheries, in 2017, FAO conducted a global survey to obtain stakeholder views on FAO’s Draft Guidelines.
This Circular presents the survey results on marking and tracking the position of drifting FADs; defining drifting FAD ownership; and defining, reporting and recovering abandoned, lost and discarded drifting FADs. Stakeholder assessments of existing measures on drifting FAD marking and tracking are also reported.
Download the document here.