Mitigating environmental impacts of Fish Aggregating Devices in the tropical tuna purse seine fisheries

Fish Aggregating Devices are efficient fishing gears that must be monitored and managed to achieve the sustainable and cost-effective harvest of pelagic marine resources. Over the last 15 years, marine scientists, purse seine skippers, fleet managers, fishing technology providers, observers, non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and RFMOs have dedicated a great effort to reduce the impacts of FADs on the ecosystem. We point out the significant wins of this effort but also what still needs to be done. We share insights and experiences from bycatch mitigation research – and identify topics and priorities for future research.