An assessment of FAD management options for the ICCAT convention area

At the FAD WG’s second meeting, urgent action is required to address the unsustainable take of juvenile bigeye in FAD-associated purse seine fishing in the ICCAT Convention Area. FAD management measures can be generally divided into three categories: 1) those that do not reduce juvenile tuna mortality; 2) those that may indirectly reduce mortality; and 3) those that directly reduce mortality. The first category includes the use of non-entangling or biodegradable FADs, limits to the number of FADs monitored by vessels, and alterations to purse seine netting or deployment techniques. The second category includes the implementation of FAD time-area closures, if such a closure is large enough and long enough to demonstrably reduce FAD fishing. The third category includes limits to the number of FAD-associated purse seine sets and limits on juvenile catch. These direct management options would improve both the health of the stock and the productivity of the fisheries. They have the added benefit of allowing the industry to determine how best to implement the limits (in time and space), as opposed to a pre-determined time-area closure.