The FAD Watch Program

How it Works The solution is as elegant as it is effective: Through a structured agreement, American and Spanish purse seine fishing fleets provide TNC with near-real-time dFAD location data so researchers can track the devices as they drift through the protected ocean habitat around Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef. The data is collated to monitor dFAD location and guide dFAD recovery when they drift within 6 nautical miles of Palmyra. If dFADs are on a grounding course with Palmyra’s reef, TNC can deploy a team from the atoll-based research facility to intercept the dFAD before the sensitive coral reef is impacted. The fishing companies also provide TNC access to oceanographic and fish biomass data from the satellite buoys tethered to dFADs. TNC and partners are able to better understand the relationship between Bluewater Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), like PRIMNM, as well as smaller scale oceanic processes in the central Pacific, highly migratory fish movements through an MPA, and the environmental impacts associated with commercial purse seine tuna fishing equipment.