Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission - FAD Area

To ensure consistent and robust application of FAD closures and catch retention in the high seas between 200S and 200N through the specification of minimum standards, and to apply high standards to the application of the FAD closure and catch retention in order to remove any possibility for the targeting of aggregated fish, or the discard of small fish.

Species of Concern: Highly migratory fish, albacore, Pacific bluefin tuna, southern bluefin tuna, bigeye tuna, skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, little tuna, frigate mackerel, pomfrets, marlins, sail-fishes, swordfish, dolphinfish, oceanic sharks

Restrictions

Each Commission Members, Cooperating Non-Members and Participating Territories (CCM) shall take the necessary measures to ensure that purse seine vessels flying its flag on the high seas comply with these rules in the application of the provisions of CMM 2008-01 relating to a FAD closure and catch retention.
FAD Set Management
A one and a half (1 1/2) months (July to mid-August) prohibition of deploying, servicing or setting on FADs shall be in place between 0001 hours UTC on 1 July and 2359 hours UTC on 15 August each year for all purse seine vessels, tender vessels, and any other vessels operating in support of purse seine vessels fishing in exclusive economic zones and in this area. In addition to the one and a half month FAD closure, except for those vessels flying the Kiribati flag when fishing in the high seas adjacent to the Kiribati exclusive economic zone, and Philippines’ vessels operating in HSP1, it shall be prohibited to deploy, service or set on FADs in the high seas for one additional month of the year. Each CCM shall decide which one month (either April, May, November or December) shall be closed to setting on FADs by their fleets in the high seas for 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 and notify the Secretariat of that decision by March 1, each year. In case a CCM decides to change the notified period at any given year of the application of this CMM this shall be notified to the Secretariat before 1st March of that year.
RULES FOR FAD CLOSURE
1. During the FAD closure, no purse seine vessel shall conduct any part of a set within one nautical mile of a FAD. That is, at no time may the vessel or any of its fishing gear or tenders be located within one nautical mile of a FAD while a set is being conducted.
2. The operator of a vessel shall not allow the vessel to be used to aggregate fish, or to move aggregated fish including using underwater lights and chumming.
3. A FAD and/or associated electronic equipment shall not be retrieved by a vessel during the period of a FAD closure unless:
a. the FAD and/or associated electronic equipment are retrieved and kept on board the vessel until landed or until the end of the closure; and
b. the vessel does not conduct any set either for a period of seven (7) days after retrieval or within a fifty (50) mile radius of the point of retrieval of any FAD.
4. Vessels shall not be used to operate in cooperation with each other in order to catch aggregated fish. No vessel shall conduct any set during the prohibition period within one nautical mile of a point where a FAD has been retrieved by another vessel within twenty-four (24) hours immediately preceding the set.
RULES FOR CATCH RETENTION
1. Where the operator of a vessel determines that fish should not be retained on board for reasons related to the size, marketability, or species composition, the fish shall only be released before the net is fully pursed and one half of the net has been retrieved.
2. Where the operator of a vessel determines that fish should not be retained on board because they are “unfit for human consumption”, the following definitions shall be applied:
a. “unfit for human consumption” includes, but is not limited to fish that:
i. is meshed or crushed in the purse seine net; or
ii. is damaged due to shark or whale depredation; or
iii. has died and spoiled in the net where a gear failure has prevented both the normal retrieval of the net and catch and efforts to release the fish alive; and
b. “unfit for human consumption” does not include fish that:
i. is considered undesirable in terms of size, marketability, or species composition; or
ii. is spoiled or contaminated as the result of an act or omission of the crew of the fishing vessel.
3. Where the operator of a vessel determines that fish should not be retained on board because it was caught during the final set of a trip when there is insufficient well space to accommodate all fish caught in that set, the fish may only be discarded if:
a. the vessel master and crew attempt to release the fish alive as soon as possible;
b. no further fishing is undertaken after the discard until the fish on board the vessel has been landed or transshipped.
4. Fish shall not be discarded from the vessel until after an observer has estimated the species composition of the fish to be discarded.
5. The Flag CCM shall require the operator of the vessel to provide to the flag CCM authority and/or the Secretariat the detailed information (as laid out in CMM 2025-04) as soon as practicable, but no later than seventy-two (72) hours after any discard. The operator of the vessel shall also provide a hard copy of this information to the WCPFC Observer on board. Any flag CCMs who requires their vessel to provide this information only to the flag CCM shall notify this arrangement to the Secretariat by the end of February 2026. Any such flag CCM shall compile the information submitted from January 1 to December 31 in the previous year and report it to the Secretariat by July 7 annually. The Secretariat shall compile the information above and make it available to the flag CCM, SC and TCC.
Members must comply with with by-catch measures, including for marine turtles, mobuild rays, seabirds, and sharks

Allowed

Fishing in accordance with a vessel's flag state fisheries laws and in accordance with WCPFC's management measures is permitted.