FADs - short for Fish Aggregating Devices - are man-made/artificial floating objects which are put on the ocean’s surface to attract marine communities and are widely used in the world. These devices can be varying from a simple floating object like a raft, to state-of-the-art devices with solar panels and sonar to notify fishermen of the presence of fish through satellite connections, and even have the ability to be tracked down again.

 

Floating objects on the ocean’s surface are not uncommon, they have been known to exist; occasionally tree logs or branches and other objects such as even a dead whale can be found drifting on the ocean, these are known as natural floating objects.

However, the Filipinos are the first known to be using anchored FADs for tuna fishing purposes; they were using these FADs – named Payaos – in combination with hand-line fishing on large tuna. Traditional Payaos are rafts made of bamboo with palm fronds right below the waterline. This fishing method used in these conditions – in small scale – is sustainable.

After the global tuna fishing industry found out about this method, it rapidly gained in popularity and was used at a large scale to catch tuna in all oceans. With yields sometimes double the amount compared to setting nets on schools of large tuna , it had indeed became a highly favorable fishing method for tuna purse seine vessels – but also for hand-liners and pole & line fisherman. The fact that this method is 100% dolphin safe made it initially a preferred tuna catching method by dolphin activists.

The process of FADs attracting a whole marine community starts with phytoplankton (microorganism) fixing itself upon the floating object.

 

This vital oceanic food source then attracts tiny fish species, which in turn will attract small immature tuna and other fish that prey on them closely to the surface, and eventually also the bigger mature tuna (which swim much deeper). Thus FADs are attracting a whole marine community varying from a mix of baby Skipjack, Yellowfin and Bigeye tuna, yellowtail, rainbow runner, billfish to top predators such as full grown skipjack and Yellowfin tuna and sharks, and even endangered marine species such as sea turtles. Since most tuna fishermen usually only target on tuna, most of the by-catch will be regarded as non-target fish and will be discarded at sea.