Jelly FAD

Jelly Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) are a newly developed non-entangling biodegradable FAD designed to overcome some of the resiliency and fishing efficiency issues with bio-FADs.  The structure is designed with minimal components above the water line to reduce the impacts of open-ocean wind and wave stress that can prematurely break down FAD materials.  In addition, the subsurface structure is built with biodegradable materials with a similar buoyancy as seawater, minimizing the vertical stress on the surface components and the connecting lines made out of cotton.  Therefore, bio-FADs are designed to be as minimally negatively buoyant as possible while creating maximum drag, which slows down their drift rate.

In extensive testing in tropical seas in collaboration with commercial tuna purse seiners, jelly FADs have been shown to aggregate fish just as effectively as traditional FADS, and therefore do not impact catch rates.  Meanwhile, they also don't present an entanglement risk to non-target species such as sea turtles and sharks and will biodegrade over a couple years if lost at sea.