A review of FAD management measures implemented in other RFMOs

Citation
Shark Guardian (2022) A review of FAD management measures implemented in other RFMOs. In: IOTC - 3rd Ad Hoc Working Group on FADs. IOTC-2022-WGFAD03-04, Online
Abstract

All tRFMOs now apply a suite of management measures to mitigate stock and ecosystem impacts resulting from the use of drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs). All but the IOTC have a regionwide dFAD closure period in place, and wherever sufficient data is available these are proving to have a positive impact upon stock conditions. The success of FAD closures comes results largely from mitigating the growth overfishing driven by large proportions of dFAD catch of yellowfin and bigeye tunas being juveniles. A suite of measures is required to achieve sustainable management though, so based on experiences and results from other tRFMOs we suggest that the IOTC implements the following management measures as a matter of priority: