He found more FADs, some overseas but most in Palmyras lagoons or on the beach. Pollock proposed using the FAD buoy satellite technology to track FADs if they drifted into the Marine National Monument. It would be a pilot job in tracking wandering FADs (the first of its kind in the Pacific Ocean), and Palmyra appeared to be an ideal area. For Nick Wolff, the FAD Watch program is a treasure trove of data. (Or so we thought: this one would later prove to be an unmarked FAD drifting towards Palmyra).
The boat motors over the swells, as 5 pairs of eyes pressure across the oceans vastness. Each of us stares, trying to find a hint in the middle of the waves. A resting seabird, a little bit of black. As I take a peek at my fellow crew members, I cant help however believe that were reenacting a scene from Moby Dick.
But were not seeking whales. Were attempting to obstruct a Fish Aggregating Device, known in market parlance as a FAD.
Were off the coast of Palmyra Atoll, a string of islands 1,000 miles south of Hawaii without any long-term occupants. Its now a national wildlife sanctuary, and thanks to conservation efforts by The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish & & Wildlife Service, its understood for its massive seabird colonies, variety of land crabs and a healthy coral reef.
A drifting FAD can have extreme repercussions for the coral reef and its residents. Our job this afternoon is to find the FAD prior to it does.
A FAD floats offshore of Palmyra Atoll. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
On the surface, the FAD is a raft or other floating structure connected to a round or flat satellite buoy utilized by the fishing vessel to track the FAD.
Put this buoy out in the ocean and, well, it feels a bit like discovering a needle in a haystack. This is repeatedly murmured by the crew as our eyes scan to the horizon. “Were searching for a needle in a haystack.”
An extremely big, seemingly endless haystack.
We understand the FAD is in the vicinity, very close to the coral reef. Each of us desires to be the one to see the FAD. We will obstruct the FAD prior to it strikes the reef.
That is thanks to an innovative partnership called FAD Watch Program between conservation and industry, specifically the United States tuna fishing fleet, that is from another location tracking FADs to protect Palmyra, and offer important oceanographic information also.
Fish aggregating gadgets, or FADS, draw in pelagic fish by supplying structure in the open ocean. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
What is a FAD?
Exactly what is a Fish Aggregating Device? In the beginning look, it might look like a raft with a net hanging underneath, however the FAD does not capture fish, not directly a minimum of.
It is a drifting device designed to bring in pelagic fish, which can then be targeted by business fishers. Recreational anglers and snorkelers will know that fish are attracted to structure. I consider the bass anglers at local lakes who sink Christmas trees and brush to attract their quarry.
A FAD is somewhat similar, except it floats across the ocean. The FAD includes a raft or other floating structure, a buoy, and hanging product listed below including covered netting, ropes and organic product like palm fronds. Marine plants, mollusks and shellfishes like little crabs settle on this structure, and a wide range of fish including skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin tuna aggregate beneath the structure.
At any offered time, there are an estimated 30,000 FADs released in the Pacific. They are frequently tracked via satellite, but offered the sheer number of devices, some drift away from the fleets fishing area and the retrieval is not cost-effective often due to fishing policies. In other circumstances, the fleet is legally unable to obtain them in areas where they do not have fishing access.
Kydd Pollock, fisheries science supervisor for The Nature Conservancys Palmyra program, shows a FAD found offshore of Palmyra. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
On the Beach
Kydd Pollock, fisheries science manager for The Nature Conservancys Palmyra program, was scanning the beach in Palmyra, looking for anything intriguing. He saw an odd shape standing out and acknowledged it instantly. A FAD. The year was 2008.
If were going to press the Moby Dick comparisons a bit farther, think about Pollock as a cheerier, friendlier variation of Captain Ahab. His good friends and coworkers will repeat that no one has as deep an enthusiasm for marine conservation and all things saltwater. He matured on charter boats, and has invested his life on the water fishing, exploring, looking into and establishing conservation programs.
Finding that FAD got him thinking and browsing. He found more FADs, some offshore but a lot of in Palmyras lagoons or on the beach. He recorded the areas on an Excel sheet, however desired more details.
” I wanted to know where they came from,” says Pollock. “I would attempt to find recognizing marks on the buoy. None could offer me the details I wanted.”
Pollock states that as the FAD approaches Palmyra, the waves bring the floating structure, buoy and netting listed below onto the reef, potentially causing substantial coral damage.
FADS often track underwater netting, which can trigger damage to coral reefs. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
He began discovering some important hints on the FADs he was finding. “Almost all of the FADs recuperated were extremely tidy,” he states. “There was little algal cover or barnacles. They had not been drifting extremely long.”
Palmyra Atoll belongs to a Marine National Monument (MPA), and no business fishing is allowed its limits. However, the U.S. Tuna Purse Seine Fleet is the only commercial tuna fleet enabled to lawfully operate outside the Marine Protected Area boundaries. (It should be noted that just a few of the stranded FADs that Pollock found originated from the U.S. bag seine fleet, with some composing found on the buoys showing that. Most of the stranded FADs likely were from vessels with Asian flags).
As it occurred, the U.S. Tuna Purse Seine Fleet had actually been dealing with collective fisheries projects with The Nature Conservancy, establishing options that benefited both preservation and the market. This had also developed a lot of shared trust.
Pollock saw an opportunity.
Palmyra personnel retrieve a FAD cleaned up on coast. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
A Conservation/Industry Partnership
If they drifted into the Marine National Monument, Pollock proposed using the FAD buoy satellite innovation to track FADs. The Nature Conservancy would cover all expenses of program execution consisting of the satellite vendor account established, information transfer represent regular monthly transfers, and oceanographic software application. When a FAD drifted into the monuments waters, TNC would be able to access the drift-track data. The companies would pay the satellite position costs and have actually supported increasing the period of transmissions so TNC might get the greatest resolution information possible.
It would be a pilot task in tracking drifting FADs (the very first of its kind in the Pacific Ocean), and Palmyra appeared to be a best location. Co-managed by TNC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the atoll had a facilities to permit conservationists to operate. TNC has a research station on the island, and more than 20 years performing research study and conservation projects.
” This was a chance to turn a FAD into a conservation tool,” says Nicholas Wolff, senior climate and ecological modification researcher for TNC. “It would permit us to gain insights on oceanography that we would not be able to get any other method. And while doing so, we could potentially obstruct the FADs prior to they reached the reef.”
GPS tracking enables researchers to track wandering FADS across the Pacific. © Kydd Pollock/ TN
This would be another action in that procedure, and the United States tuna fishing companies committed to the tracking program by authorizing access to the satellite buoy positions as they drift within the MPA, which ended up being understood as the Palmyra FAD Watch Program.
” It is really a dream collaboration in between market and preservation,” states Wolff. “These are crucial fishing tools for the industry, created for open ocean fish procurement, and they dont desire to cause damage to delicate coral reefs. This is a job that has mutual benefit.”
Cary Gann, spokesperson for the United States Pacific Tuna Group of fishing companies (who are amongst the participants in this FAD watch program), says, “The USPTG completely supports research on the prospective impacts of FADs on delicate habitats and ecosystems due to beaching and is committed to establishing effective methods to mitigate negative effects as part of detailed FAD management strategy embraced by the Group in 2020.”
Gann keeps in mind that the development and trial of FAD retrieval programs is a crucial element of the USPTG FAD management plan so partnering with The Nature Conservancy on the Palmyra FAD Watch program was a natural fit and fantastic chance.
” The US tuna vessel owners are happy to take part in a program for the protection of delicate seaside habitats within US waters, even though they can not fish within the MPA,” Gann includes. “We hope that the FAD Watch program will function as a model for FAD retrieval programs throughout the Pacific.”
A FAD of unknown origin cleaned ashore on Palmyra Atoll. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
To Retrieve a FAD
For Nick Wolff, the FAD Watch program is a treasure trove of information. Utilizing Satlink software application, the wandering FADs transmit information he can access including sea surface temperature level, currents and thermocline depths. The FAD sends its place every 4 hours, which provides important data, but Wolff hopes the next action is more fine-scale reporting.
From his workplace in Maine, Wolff sends coordinates of the FADs to Pollock, at the research study base upon Palmyra.
I signed up with Pollock at the atoll mainly to capture and tag giant and bluefin trevally for another research project. Every day, Pollock received the FAD data, checking the locations within the monument to see if any were drifting toward Palmyras coasts.
A couple days after my arrival, he announced, “Theres a FAD heading our way.”
High hopes for finding the FAD rapidly faded in the face of gray skies and rough seas. The need for finer-scale information ended up being apparent, as we understood a FAD was in the area, but could not locate it specifically.
2 masked boobies perch on a floating FAD. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
After thorough browsing, Pollock stated we d resume capturing fish for research. The possibility to tag and capture fish was a welcome break, nearly a holiday.
Still, the wiry, tanned Oney looked unsatisfied as he enjoyed the lure trail behind the boat. All of a sudden he comprised his mind.
” Matt, take my fishing line,” he announced. “Im going to find that FAD.”
Minutes later, it appeared he did. “Theres something out there.
There were excited whoops as we found the FAD. We pulled up the buoy and routing length of ropes and netting.
It offered a trial run for a couple of days later on, when a five-person team would browse.
Pollock and other Palmyra staff cut a FAD loose from the reef. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
Trend Watch for Palmyra
This days job was to release strings of underwater cameras, each baited with a cannister of sardines, to tape-record marine life. After setting out a line of video cameras, we had to wait a couple hours before retrieving. We used that time to record and tag trevally.
And demonstrating Pollocks extreme method to multitasking, he unexpectedly announced, “We have a FAD to discover.”
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And so we browsed simply outside the breaking waves, and strained, and it ended up being to appear a difficult job when again. Then there was a swirl of sea birds, almost like a tiny island in the water. And there it was. (Or so we believed: this one would later on show to be an unmarked FAD drifting towards Palmyra).
We obtained the entire gadget just in the nick of time, bring up the 170 length of ropes that dragged below in just 400 feet of water. Its been a long day, and Pollock is grinning.
” From the moment I saw the first one here, I desired to keep them off the coral reef ecosystem,” he states. “I understood there was a method to do it. To be able to deal with the industry, who also has a real interest to keep them off the reef, is enormously gratifying. Its another step we can do to safeguard what is so special about Palmyra Atoll.”
The group after effectively retrieveing a FAD. © Kydd Pollock/ TNC
