Non-Entangling & Biodegradable FADs Guide

ISSF’s Non-Entangling & Biodegradable FADs guide for tuna fishers, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), governments, and vessel owners shows research-based best practices in Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) design — both to avoid bycatch and reduce marine pollution.

Four tuna RFMOs already require fleets in their regions that fish with FADs to use only non-entangling designs. Some RFMOs additionally encourage fleets to build those FADs with biodegradable materials. The guide, first published in 2012 and revised in 2019 to include the biodegradable recommendation, is available in several languages.

Number of Tuna Transshipments by Year (2014-2021)

Date Added: September 14, 2022
Downloaded: 9 times
RMFOs: IATTC, ICCAT, IOTC, WCPFC
Tags: IATTC, ICCAT, IOTC, RFMOs, Transshipment, Tuna, WCPFC
Language: English
Featured: True
Report Type: Final

Description

The four tropical-tuna RFMOs — the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic  Tunas (ICCAT), Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), and Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) —  prohibit purse seiners, and other vessels under certain conditions, from transshipping at sea. But at-sea transshipment overall has increased in recent years.

This infographic, which shows trends in the RFMOs’ reported transshipments from 2014-2021, appears in our Web feature, “At-Sea Transshipments in Tuna Fisheries: Why Oversight Is Essential for Sustainability.”