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TAHITI FADWATCH
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Understand · Monitor · Act

On a vast ocean,
every object counts.

Master the drift to better protect the ocean.

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A dFAD at the surface: its satellite beacon in the foreground, floats caught in the netting and bamboo adrift. Map of the Pacific and its major ocean currents. Netting from a stranded dFAD tangled on a coral block on the reef flat. A poti marara, a Polynesian fishing boat, speeding across the open sea with three people on board.

Drifting FADs and what is at stake in French Polynesia

A raft, some netting, a beacon

A drifting fish aggregating device (dFAD) is a raft of bamboo and netting released by tuna purse seiners to attract fish. Tracked by satellite beacon, it drifts until enough fish have gathered beneath it to be caught.

  • 30–50 m

    deep: the netting appendage hanging below the raft

  • 350

    dFADs with an active beacon at most per purse seiner in the western and central Pacific

Tens of thousands every year

Close to 60,000 drifting FADs are deployed in the Pacific every year. Barely 10% are collected. The rest keep drifting, sometimes for months, carried by the currents — and some reach the Polynesian exclusive economic zone.

  • 60,000

    dFADs deployed every year in the Pacific

  • ~10%

    of them are collected

Reefs, wildlife, navigation

Once stranded, dFADs scrape the coral and tangle in the reef. Adrift, their nets trap turtles, sharks and fish. Half-submerged, they are a hazard for night-time navigation.

  • 1,539

    dFAD strandings recorded since 2019

  • 118

    islands and atolls make up French Polynesia

Acting before they run aground

A regional drive to collect drifting FADs at sea is taking shape across the Pacific. Our ambition is to become its operational relay in French Polynesia, building on existing schemes and local players — shifting from reacting to anticipating.

  • 9,000 km

    of coastline in French Polynesia

  • 4.5 million

    km² of exclusive economic zone in French Polynesia

TAHITI FADWATCH

Awareness · Monitoring · Recovery · Recycling

  • Raise awareness

    Build a shared understanding of dFADs, which are seen differently depending on the island people live on and the work they do.

  • Monitor

    Track how dFADs and their impacts are evolving in French Polynesia.

  • Recover

    Reduce the impacts of dFADs through pragmatic recovery efforts, on land and above all at sea, before they strand.

  • Recycle

    Turn a burden into a resource through the circular economy, notably by giving satellite beacons a second life.

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Support the monitoring and recovery of drifting FADs, take part in our general meetings, join a local team on your island.

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We are here to listen. Let's talk, so we can better understand what is at stake with dFADs and together contribute to a more sustainable future for our oceans.

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