Wednesday May 14, 2025
Earth.com —
Tuna fishing relies on rafts that drift for thousands of kilometers, silent and unmoored, following ocean currents across vast, empty waters.
These floating devices, often made with netting tails dangling beneath the surface, aren’t just drifting aimlessly – they’re designed to attract fish. Once surrounded by schools of tuna, the fish are scooped up by large industrial vessels.
Known as drifting Fish Aggregating Devices, or dFADs, these tools have been a staple of commercial tuna fishing since the 1990s.
They were created to help produce “dolphin-safe” tuna by reducing the need to chase tuna schools that often swim with dolphins. But these devices have brought along a new set of problems that stretch far beyond their original intent.