Work

A short-lived FAD in the Pacific: Implications and adaptations in the move to biodegradable fish aggregating devices

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The development of biodegradable drifting fish aggregation devices (FADs) in tropical tuna fisheries will reduce marine pollution and, potentially, stranding events when FADs are abandoned or lost. Using estimated FAD deployment densities across the entire Pacific Ocean, we examine the relative change in FAD loss out of equatorial fishing zones, under differing FAD lifetime scenarios, by simulating FAD drift over two years. When FADs physically degrade after one year, we found that the greatest reduction in FADs lost out of the fishing ground was in the Western and Central Pacific. However, we also found a two-to-four-fold increase in the number of FADs that will prematurely degrade whilst still potentially operational. These results are discussed in the context of mitigating FAD impacts on marine debris, the need to repair and maintain FADs, and the potential for a future, compensatory effort of deploying increased numbers of FADs by fishing fleets.

Source: Marine Pollution Bulletin

DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118130

Authors: Joe Scutt Phillips, Lauriane Escalle, Hilario Murua, Jon Lopez, Gala Moreno

Institutions: Pacific Community, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission

Language: English

Topic: Microplastics and Plastic Pollution

Subfield: Pollution

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life below water, Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,740