Kiribati Fish Aggregating Devices Management Plan.

The Kiribati Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD) Management Plan establishes the following specific objectives: (i) to ensure the rational management of FAD fisheries in order to minimize user conflicts; (ii) to enhance the utilization of FADs and associated pelagic resources through the systematic collection of catch and effort data for scientific assessment; (iii) to support informed management decisions by maintaining a National FAD Inventory Register; (iv) to enforce limits on the number of sets by Kiribati-flagged vessels targeting drifting FADs (DFADs) on the high seas; (v) to restrict the number of anchored FADs (AFADs) that each Kiribati-flagged purse seine vessel may construct and deploy; (vi) to designate specific fishing areas for foreign fleets and Kiribati-flagged vessels; and (vii) to ensure that Kiribati-flagged vessels are not subject to disproportionate regulatory burdens.
This Plan further prescribes the procedures and regulatory mechanisms applicable to all purse seine vessels, including Kiribati-flagged and licensed foreign vessels operating within Kiribati’s non-contiguous Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). Certain provisions apply specifically to Kiribati-flagged vessels fishing on the high seas, as well as to licensed vessels targeting tuna associated with FADs in areas adjacent to Kiribati’s EEZs.