Tracking anchored FAD use in Indonesian small-scale fisheries
Fish aggregating devices or FADs are a type of fishing gear used by many small-scale fisheries in Indonesia to attract tuna. The government recently introduced regulations around the use of FADs to ensure their widespread use is sustainable. But FADs are often deployed without proper monitoring in place. This makes it hard for fishers to follow the rules.
So how can fishers be encouraged to register FAD use? And what affordable methods can be used to help fishery managers track compliance with regulations?
Ahmad Catur Widyatmoko is a postgraduate researcher trying to answer these questions. With the support of an MSC Student Scholarship Grant in 2018, he entered a master’s program at the University of Basque Country in Spain. We spoke to Ahmad to learn more about what his research found and his promising future in fisheries science.