2017 Update - The Fishery On Fish-Aggregating Devices (FADs) In The Eastern Pacific Ocean

This document is an update and extension of Documents SAC-05-04a and SAC-07-03e, presented at the meetings of the Scientific Advisory Committe in 2014 and 2016, respectively.
As part of their data collection duties, observers aboard purse-seine vessels record the characteristics and use of fish-aggregating devices (FADs), both those fabricated and deployed for the sole purpose of attracting fish and those that are improvised at sea from flotsam to which the fishers attach a variety of materials that will make them more attractive to the fish. The information presented in this document is based on observer records; as such, it is predominantly from Class-61 purse-seine vessels, but also includes data from a small number of Class-5 vessels that have carried observers.