More than a FAD – EcoFADs

Published 29/01/2025

Drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (dFADs) are human-made floating objects often used by tropical tuna purse seine fishers. They work by attracting fish, allowing more targeted and efficient fishing in remote areas and increasing catches. dFADs tend to be made of durable plastics, so that they can last for a long time at sea. However, this same quality means that lost or abandoned dFADs contribute to marine litter and pose a particular threat to sensitive marine habitats such as coral reefs which provide homes and nursery grounds for many kinds of fish and marine megafauna.

In this solution, the SEARCULAR team are working closely with fishers to design and trial a new cost-effective and sustainable dFAD made from biodegradable, toxin-free and sustainable materials. These eco-designed, biodegradable dFADs – or “EcoFADs”– will avoid long-lasting plastics from building up in sensitive ecosystems while providing equal or better performance for fishers.

 

We caught up with Iker Zudaire Senior Researcher in Sustainable Fisheries Management at AZTI, and Gala Moreno Senior Scientist at the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), who together are leading SEARCULAR’s work to develop a new biodegradable EcoFAD alongside ECHEBASTAR, a tropical tuna purse seine company. We discussed their biggest achievements from the first year of SEARCULAR and what’s next for the team.

 

Looking back over the first year of SEARCULAR, is there any work you are particularly proud of in your team?

A large pile of spun and bundled material sits next to stacked rolls of woven material. Both are cream to brown in colour.

A selection of Fique (Furcraea cabuya) which can be made into rope or canvas for use in EcoFADs.

Iker: We are pleased to have been able to source sustainable, natural materials for the biodegradable dFAD development and to have started sea trials of some preliminary designs in the Mediterranean Sea. Previous trials and our initial results suggest that the EcoFADs work well but have helped us to identify further ways to improve the design. We have already learned so much from engaging with fishers and from the trials, including how the qualities and use of different materials impacts the usability and performance of the biodegradable EcoFAD. We are looking forward to testing our next generation of EcoFADs, co-designed with our partners, later this year.

Gala: The sourcing of materials was an important first step for this project. We want to ensure the biodegradable materials used in the new EcoFAD are available in the regions where our fishers operate, are affordable, sustainably harvested, easy to put together, and perform as well as traditional dFADs. We are also working closely with a fishing company to co-design and trial the new EcoFADs to ensure they work well for fishers under real conditions.

 

 

It sounds like collaborating with fishers has been a huge part of the early design stages of the EcoFAD. Will this continue throughout the project?

Iker: Absolutely. In December 2024, we held a workshop with scientists from AZTI and ISSF, and staff from the purse seine tuna freezer company ECHEBASTAR, which operates in the Indian Ocean. The purpose of the workshop was to present and feedback on work completed so far and to establish a work plan for 2025.

In the workshop we discussed previous experiences to understand what alternative and biodegradable materials exist for the different elements of the dFAD, as well as the configuration of these elements when constructing the EcoFAD. This allowed us to identify any elements that still need biodegradable alternatives to replace conventional or non-biodegradable materials, for example plastic floats, ballast, and metal frames.

We also worked on three biodegradable EcoFAD models for testing: two models already used by ECHEBASTAR but made entirely of biodegradable materials, and a third novel circular Jelly-FAD model. We presented our previous studies with the Jelly-FAD model, including the concepts of buoyancy, drag and material stress that were considered in the design and construction process, and with the fishing company we evaluated aspects such as performance, price, maneuverability, biodegradability, durability and cost of the novel Jelly-FAD design.

Scientists and fishermen gathered for a workshop to co-design EcoFAD models for testing and establish a 2025 work plan.

 

With so much to consider in designing with new materials, it’s great to see research and industry working so closely together to make sure the designs work for people and planet. Following your workshop, what’s next for SEARCULAR’s EcoFADs?

Iker: Taking forward our learnings from the December workshop, we will be defining the ‘next generation’ of EcoFAD through co-design, testing, and iteration with our fishing partners. This will include a series of controlled and real condition sea trials to ensure that the materials and design are effective and work for our fishers under real conditions.

Gala: A key aim for the SEARCULAR project is to work closely with stakeholders and to iteratively design our solutions. We are pleased to already be working with a fishing company to support this. The fishers we are working with have unique knowledge and experience of using dFADs in their work which is key to ensuring that any new fishing gear we design using biodegradable materials will be effective.

Iker: In addition to creating new biodegradable EcoFAD designs, the team will also be developing a predictive model to improve mapping, tracking and recovery of abandoned, lost or discarded dFADs.  Understanding how these dFADs move in the ocean and where they end up once lost or abandoned will help us to better identify areas where deploying dFADs poses the greatest risk to sensitive habitats. We will also be assessing the differences in movements between traditional dFADs and EcoFADs to predict the estimated fall in strandings and build-up of dFADs when the biodegradable design is used.

Gala: We want to drive global change and we hope that our findings can be used around the world to reduce the impacts of fisheries using dFADs. Sustainability is all of our responsibility and we are working with fishers on a solution that will help to meaningfully reduce the amount of plastics in our oceans. We are grateful to the staff at ECHEBASTAR whose knowledge, input and support is vital in developing a new EcoFAD that will work for fishers.

 

 

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