Island Conservation Society
  • About Us
  • Islands
    • Alphonse
    • Aride
    • Astove
    • Desroches
    • Farquhar
    • Ile Plate
    • Silhouette
    • Other Islands
  • Projects
  • Resources
    • Downloads
    • ICS Products
    • Jobs & Volunteering
    • Videos
    • POSITION PAPERS
  • News
  • Contact Us
  • Tortoise Adoption Programme

Latest News
​

Long Term View for FAD-Watch in Seychelles Outer Islands

27/11/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
ICS Conservation Team protecting Alphonse Island's fragile nearshore ecosystems by retrieving a drifted FAD. Photo Pep Nogues
FAD-Watch partner organisations Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), Islands Development Company (IDC), Island Conservation Society (ICS) and the Spanish Purse-seining organisatioon AGAC-OPAGAC met in Seychelles last month to review progress over the last 18 months since the FAD-Watch Programme’s inception.  
Fish aggregating devices (FADs) are man-made floating platforms set in the ocean by fishing vessels to attract fish and make them easier to catch.  When this purpose drifts, as do the FADs, fragile marine life, coral reefs, lagoons and beaches can suffer.
Picture
Drifting FADs become dangerous obstacles and pollution for marine life. Photo Matthew Morgan
Picture
Marine debris washed ashore on Alphonse Island. Photo credit Ari Fernandez
​The FAD-WATCH project has developed a system which enables ICS Conservation Teams to monitor FADs entering 5- and 3 nautical mile buffer zones around Seychelles islands managed by IDC. FAD monitoring software, provided to ICS by FAD manufacturers SatLink and Marine Instruments, can report FAD positions at very short intervals. This means ICS can constantly track FADs and monitor their movements as they approach reef and land.  If a FAD has drifted inside the 5 mile zone, ICS can then intervene to retrieve it prior to beaching. This prevents damage to coral reef, seagrass and beach habitats, as well as stopping the FAD becoming marine pollution or worse, a death trap for non-target marine species such as turtles, sharks and billfish.  
Picture
This turtle was found entangled in a ghost net. Photo Sam Balderson
​The objective is to obtain information on the impacts from FADs in Seychelles using real data, rather than theoretical estimates obtained from past studies.  This will enable us to accurately quantify the number of potential FAD beaching events and evaluate the efficiency of the Project to date in preventing such destructive beaching events.  ICS will be offering suggestions for more environmentally friendly and biodegradable FAD designs to further mitigate the issue.
A Report on the number of FAD beaching events that have been avoided thanks to ICS intervention in 2017 will be published in early 2018.  The report will also estimate the total number of potential FAD beachings which would have occurred in the absence of ICS interception.
Picture
A FAD intercepted in the 5 nautical mile zone, preventing damage to reef, seagrass and beach systems. Photo Ari Fernandez
The first of its kind in the world, FAD-WATCH is a great example of successful collaboration between a coastal state administration, local NGOs, and the fishing industry. It is now time for other fleets to join the Project to help Seychelles achieve reef and beach environments that are totally free from FAD debris, by 2020.
2 Comments
best essay writers online link
20/3/2018 04:44:21

I am into conservation of islands all over the world. I see wonderful water creatures in my entire life as I stayed half of my existence in my homeland where there are a lot of sea creatures. I hope that I can see more of this wonderful project to conserve the environment. If I could help you in the way that I can, I would love to help you just let me know how. Articles like this are very much appreciated.

Reply
Teagan Warren link
22/12/2020 21:40:46

Appreciate yourr blog post

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Alphonse
    Aride
    Desroches
    Farquhar
    ICS
    Silhouette
    St. Francois

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    November 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    June 2024
    September 2023
    June 2023
    September 2022
    August 2022
    February 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • About Us
  • Islands
    • Alphonse
    • Aride
    • Astove
    • Desroches
    • Farquhar
    • Ile Plate
    • Silhouette
    • Other Islands
  • Projects
  • Resources
    • Downloads
    • ICS Products
    • Jobs & Volunteering
    • Videos
    • POSITION PAPERS
  • News
  • Contact Us
  • Tortoise Adoption Programme