Terms of Reference for a project to support additional work on trialling non-entangling and biodegradable FADs in the WCPO

WCPFC Project 110 is identifying some of the challenges that will be encountered during the wider implementation of non-entangling and biodegradable FADs in the WCPO. These challenges include limited availability of suitable biodegradable materials within the region, extended freight times and supply chain bottlenecks for materials sourced from outside the region, lack of trained regional personnel and facilities for constructing non-entangling and biodegradable FADs - including suitable storage facilities (humidity and insect damage is a problem for biodegradable materials) - and a need to enhance the awareness and preparedness of the purse seine industry in the WCPO for transitioning to non-entangling and biodegradable FADs. Project 110 has suffered major challenges due to COVID19, however, the work has progressed significantly since the COVID19 travel restrictions eased in Pacific countries in 2022. The project has adopted the ‘jelly-FAD’ design as the prototype non-entangling and biodegradable FAD to be used. Progress of Project 110 is described in the working paper (SC19-EB-WP-02) by Escalle et al. (2023). The project has been leveraged by collaborating with the International Sustainable Seafood Foundation (ISSF) on this work and other similar work in the Pacific. While Project 110 has worked through the logistical challenges, it has also found that the level of visits and purse seine sets on individual FADs is lower than expected, meaning that larger numbers of trial jelly-FADs need to be deployed to get robust results. This work is impossible without the valuable contributions of industry partners; however, they participate as part of their day-to-day fishing operations and as such treat the trial jelly-FADs the same as standard drifting FADs; that is, they typically will not go out of their way to specifically visit and or set on the trial jelly-FADs. Furthermore, delays due to procurement challenges and industry challenges in participating due to COVID19, have also led to delayed FAD deployments. This has meant that the recently deployed first batch of jelly-FADs will have an at-sea time that overlaps with the FAD closure, precluding any visits by purse seiners for 3 months. These issues mean the level of data obtained per jelly-FAD deployment is considerably lower than expected when planning Project 110, again highlighting the need for additional jelly-FAD deployments to increase the statistical rigour and robustness of advice from these trials. Noting these delays and concerns, we requested a no-cost extension of the Project 110 until December 2025, with the goal to provide a project report to SC21. However, in recognising that the current project is limited in the number of jelly-FADs it can deploy, and the need for more training, exploration of local materials/availability, identification of suitable locations as hubs for construction and supply of nonentangling and biodegradable FADs and enhancement of industry engagement, the WCPFC has sought additional funds to leverage off the current work of Project 110. WCPFC, with support from SPC, will submit a project proposal to the EU to further this expansion of the work. While the proposed EU funds would cover most of the project cost, co-funding would be sought from the WCPFC budget to be approved at WCPFC20.