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Is it good or bad to fish with FADs? What are the real impacts of the use of drifting FADs on pelagic marine ecosystems?

Year of publication 2013

Product type Meeting

Category Meeting document

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) The use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) by purse seine fisheries has come under increasing criticism for its potential deleterious impacts on tu stocks, for high levels of by-catch and threats to the biodiversity of tropical pelagic ecosystems. Here, we review the current state of scientific knowledge of this fishing technique and current magement strategies. Our intent is to encourage objective discussion of the topic and highlight areas worthy of future research. We show that catching juven ile tu around FADs does not necessarily result in overfishing of stocks, although more selective fishing techniques would likely help obtain higher yield. Levels of non-tu by-catch are comparable to or less than in other commercial tu fisheries and are primarily comprised of species that are not considered threa- tened. Accordingly, to minimize impacts on ecosystem balance, there is merit in considering that all species captured in purse seine fisheries (excluding vulnerable species such as turt les and sharks) should be retained, but the consequences of such a measure should be carefully examined before implementation. The take of vulnerable species could be further reduced by introduction of additiol mitigation measures, but their potential benefits would be limited without parallel efforts with other gears. Filly, there is no unequivocal empirical evidence that FADs repre- sent an ‘ecological trap’ that inherently disrupts tu biology although further research should focus on this iss ue. We encourage RFMOs to expand and improve their FAD magement plans. Under appropriate magement regimes, FAD fish- ing could be an ecologically and economically sensible fishing method.

Statutory body / Meeting title Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC)

Meeting symbol IOTC-2013-WPEB09-34

Meeting Session Number 9

Language English

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    Is it good or bad to fish with FADs? What are the real impacts of the use of drifting FADs on pelagic marine ecosystems? 2013
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    The use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) by purse seine fisheries has come under increasing criticism for its potential deleterious impacts on tu stocks, for high levels of by-catch and threats to the biodiversity of tropical pelagic ecosystems. Here, we review the current state of scientific knowledge of this fishing technique and current magement strategies. Our intent is to encourage objective discussion of the topic and highlight areas worthy of future research. We show that catching juven ile tu around FADs does not necessarily result in overfishing of stocks, although more selective fishing techniques would likely help obtain higher yield. Levels of non-tu by-catch are comparable to or less than in other commercial tu fisheries and are primarily comprised of species that are not considered threa- tened. Accordingly, to minimize impacts on ecosystem balance, there is merit in considering that all species captured in purse seine fisheries (excluding vulnerable species such as turt les and sharks) should be retained, but the consequences of such a measure should be carefully examined before implementation. The take of vulnerable species could be further reduced by introduction of additiol mitigation measures, but their potential benefits would be limited without parallel efforts with other gears. Filly, there is no unequivocal empirical evidence that FADs repre- sent an ‘ecological trap’ that inherently disrupts tu biology although further research should focus on this iss ue. We encourage RFMOs to expand and improve their FAD magement plans. Under appropriate magement regimes, FAD fish- ing could be an ecologically and economically sensible fishing method.
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