Characterization of the costs and benefits related to lost and/or abandoned Fish Aggregating Devices in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean

Citation
Banks R, Zaharia M (2020) Characterization of the costs and benefits related to lost and/or abandoned Fish Aggregating Devices in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. Report produced by Poseidon Aquatic Resources Management Ltd for The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Abstract

1. The report examines the impact from the loss of Drifting Fish Aggregation Devices (DFADs) from the Western and Central Pacific purse seine fishery. Based on recent FAD deployments, in 2017-2019, between 44,700 and 64,900 FADs are estimated to have been deployed annually. Using the data available from the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) FAD Tracking Programme it is estimated that, 5,912 to 8,583 FADs were retrieved, 9,254-13,463 FADs beached and 29,534-42,881 sunk annually.
2. Drifting FAD (DFAD) currently in use throughout the World’s oceans can be characterised in terms of 4 types: Highest Entanglement Risk FADs (HER FAD), Lesser Entanglement Risk FADs (LER FAD), No Entanglement Risk FADs (NER FAD) and Biodegradable No Entanglement Risk FADs (BNER FAD). The Western and Central Pacific fishery is in the process of transitioning from HER FADs to LER FADs, with the prospect of changing to NER FADs to be discussed at the 2020 Annual Meeting.
3. The PNA tracking programme identified beaching events for HER FADs. The Pacific Community (SPC) Division, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems (FAME), has also analysed beachings and connectivity between deployment locations and Pacific Islands coastlines using observed trajectories and Lagrangian simulations.
4. Beaching event frequency was explored by 1° grid cells in coastal areas. Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Kiribati were associated with a higher number of beachings, representing 80% of the total, with considerably fewer beachings found in other PNA island countries (18%), and a very small number outside PNA waters (3%). Hotspot grid cells included Onotoa and Beru atolls, and the eastern part of Tabiteuea in Gilbert Islands, Kiribati; Ontong Java Atoll, Malaita North and Malaita South, in Solomon Islands; and the central part of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. Beaching events outside the PNA zone may be underestimated due to geofencing, although the based on alternative information sources, the numbers are not likely to be hugely underestimated.
5. The fleets associated with higher numbers of beaching DFADs included Korea (31%), Taiwan (16%) and Kiribati (14%). FSM, China, PNG, Philippines, US and Marshall Islands fleets accounted for lower levels of beachings (4-8%), and Japan, much lower levels (2%).
6. The majority (92%) of the identified beaching events were likely to have occurred on coral reef habitat. The remaining events occurred either on seagrass habitat, mangroves or sandy beaches, where no coral reefs were mapped. Some FADs possibly impacted more than one type of habitat.
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