Synthesis on moored FADs in the North West Pacific region

In early 1980s, fad fisheries were introduced from the Philippines to Japan, mainly to Okinawa. The fisheries have well developed becoming one of the main fisheries in Okinawa where 210 fads are approved to deploy in 1999. The annual catch by roughly 1 000 boats (most of them are small) is 2500-4000 mt; average catch from one fad is about 20 mt; average catch by one boat on one day is 73 kilogrammes. fads are also important for easing the fishing pressures on bottom fish stocks. Most of the fads were deployed and managed by local fishermen's groups that have improved the structures of the system to withstand typhoons. The catches are strongly depending on the sites, usually the farther offshore, the better the catches. A variety of fishing methods are devised targeting each species and the size of the fish. Being most abundant and having relatively higher prices, yellowfin tuna is the most important and consists 68% of the total production. There have been conflicts among fishermen on the use of fads since the early stage of the fisheries development. Now, the number of fads is regulated by a management committee. Conflicts between fishermen and sport fishermen have become problems; on the other hand, the sport fishing could lead to further development of the fisheries. Degraded fish meat caused by high meat temperature and occasional oversupply have been major marketing problems since prices are strongly related to the meat quality and the fish supply.

Keyword(s)

Attracting techniques, Catch/effort, Fishery management, Fishing vessels statistics, Yield, Article Geographic Terms: ISEW, Japan, Nansei Shoto, Okinawa

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Kakuma S (2000). Synthesis on moored FADs in the North West Pacific region. Pêche thonière et dispositifs de concentration de poissons, Caribbean-Martinique, 15-19 Oct 1999. https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00042/15281/

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