Design and deployment of an affordable and long-lasting deep-water subsurface fish aggregation device

Fish aggregation devices (FADs) are used worldwide to enhance the efficiency of various fisheries. Devices consist of a floating or subsurface component designed to exploit natural fish behavior, using species’ attraction to structure to aggregate fish (e.g., Sargassum spp.) and increase capture success in open-ocean environments. Concerns have arisen regarding the scale and management of FAD-associated fisheries, but the efficiency of FADs to aggregate fish also introduces the possibility for FADs to be used as conservation tools to study pelagic species ecology. Building on 2 successful and several failed deployments of anchored, deepwater (>500 m), subsurface (10 m) FADs over 3 years in The Bahamas, and observations from the subsequent FAD-monitoring program, the objectives of the paper are to: (1) provide details and considerations for the design, construction, and deployment of an affordable and durable deepwater, subsurface FAD that can be deployed using small boats; and (2) highlight the potential for a long-lasting moored FAD to be used as a sustainable and reliable scientific platform for research and conservation of pelagic species, lending specifically to several research applications. This information will be useful for assessing the impacts that FADs and other anthropogenic marine infrastructure have on wild marine species, and their efficacy for conserving pelagic fish through increased encounters for study