Report of the IOTC ad hoc Working Group on FADs

The first Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission’s (IOTC) ad hoc Working Group on FADs (WGFAD01)
was held in Madrid, Spain on 18 April 2017. A total of 48 participants attended the Session.
The WGFAD NOTED paper IOTC–2017– WGFAD01–03 which outlined the main aims and objectives of the Working Group as established by the Commission. “The objectives of the ad hoc working group on Fish Aggregating devices (FADs) would be the following:
•To collect and compile information about past and present numbers of buoys and FADs, changes in FAD-related technology and activities of supply vessels; •To review the requirements of collection of data on FADs established in Resolution 15/08 in order to assess the necessity for revision; •To assess the effect of FAD’s density and spatial distribution on the behaviour, distribution and species composition of the tuna schools; •To assess the developments in FAD-related technology notably with regards to: o changes in catchability due to technological improvement; o using FAD and buoys marking and identification as a tool for monitoring, tracking and control of FADs; o reducing FAD’s ecological impacts through improved design, such as non-entangling FADs and biodegradable material. •To evaluate ways to improve the use of information related to FADs in the process of stock assessment, particularly in the standardisation of catch per unit effort, and in ecological risk assessment for non-target species; •Through an active exchange of views, to identify management options, including the regulation of deployment limits and characteristics of FADs, and activities of support vessels; •To assess the consequences of these management options, in conjunction with other fleets fishing mortality components, on IOTC-managed species and on the pelagic ecosystems” (Resolution 15/08).