Progress in research into new materials for ecological and non-entangling FADs

The Ecuadorian Ministry of Aquaculture and Fishery is developing a Tuna National Action Plan for the sustainable management of industrial tuna fishing in the country. Progress has been made with the creation of workshops for the aforementioned plan. This has been done with industry researchers and vessels owners, and it is expected to be completed in two months.

On October 2nd and 3rd 2017, we held a workshop that was run by a group of scientists from international organizations such as IATTC, AZTI, ISSF, FIP OPAGAC, and TUNACONS. This workshop was directed to fleet bosses, captains, and crew members.

During the first day, the workshop focused on experiences related to and progress made towards implementing non-entangling, biodegradable FADs. Additionally, an Executive Work Plan was defined by the attending organizations in order to optimize activities in the EPO (Eastern Pacific Ocean).

On the second day, captains, and crew members shared the advances that have been made regarding to FADs, as well as with the launching of the Best Practices on Board code.

As part of the actions related to principle #2, on November 22nd of 2017, a Species Update workshop, was run by consultant Juan Pedro Monteagudo, an expert in the different MSC principles standards.

The workshop was based on a pre-assessment carried out in accordance with MSC standards version 1.3, which also takes version 2.0 into account. The latter includes new considerations and categories regarding to “non-target” species and fishing impacts.