DoE brings in abandoned dangerous fishing device

DoE Research Officer Bradley Johnson hauls the FAD out of sea (Photo courtesy DoE)

(CNS): Department of Environment researchers managed to bring in a fish aggregation device (FAD) on Friday, which was found off the coast of East End and could have posed a threat to the reef, marine life and sea vessels had it not been retrieved. Officials from the department explained that FADs, which require a permit for use in Cayman Islands waters, are used by fishermen to lure, or aggregate, species that utilise the floating man-made structures for a number of reasons. This FAD was buoyed by a number of Styrofoam floats encased in a net, which would have eventually broken down, releasing thousands of small Styrofoam particles over time.

Two lines of rubber-coated stainless steel cable were attached to the net, which would have been attached to an anchor to keep the FAD in position wherever it was originally deployed, before it broke free and floated to Cayman. The cable extended over 80 feet, and when it was found it had snagged on the ocean bottom, the DoE explained.

“Thankfully, the FAD had caused minimal damage to the surrounding reef and it was quickly removed to prevent any future harm to the surrounding reef and before the Styrofoam could disintegrate into the water column,” the DoE stated in a Facebook post about the discovery.

This was the second FAD of this nature that has been retrieved from Cayman waters in the past few months, the DoE said, adding that the previous one was found and retrieved on 29 July offshore off the Rum Point channel.

Back in April the department was alerted to and handled the disposal of a ghost net that had ensnared hundreds of fish, including sharks, that was discovered in local waters. That gruesome ocean trap was some 40 feet deep and 40 feet wide and was eventually tracked and recovered and sent overseas for recycling.