A break-away FAD has been “at large” for an epic 4,000km-plus drift up to Shark Bay, before looping back and eventually beaching at Walpole on the South Coast (see map below).
FAD #6 broke off from its anchor point around 50km off Woodman Point earlier this year. FADs can break away for a number of reasons such as boat strikes, violent swell, wind and gear failure. Therefore, all FADs are fitted with satellite trackers.
That’s how the wayward fish aggregation device was tracked as it drifted up to 650km off the coast, before being carried northwards up to 400km west off Shark Bay.
It then looped around, being dragged within 50km of the Abrolhos Islands, before catching the Leeuwin Current and drifting all the way down to the South Coast, landing at Conspicuous Cliffs Beach, near Walpole.
The FAD was retrieved by DBCA rangers of the Walpole-Nornalup National Park, and while the FAD had an extensive journey, it is still thankfully in great nick, allowing it to be redeployed later this year as part of the ongoing Statewide FADs program.
The FAD’s voyage highlights the strength of the Leeuwin Current along the WA coast, which pelagic fish species such as billfish, tuna, mackerel, yellowtail kingfish and Samsonfish use as a “highway” to navigate up and down our coastline.
Tapping into the bountiful pelagic fishing action provided by the current is a great boon for recreational and charter boat fishers, whose love for fishing the FADs fuelled Recfishwest and the fishing community’s establishment of the successful three-year FADs program trial.
The State Government has committed to maintaining and developing the State-wide FADs network until at least June, 2025.
Want to know more about the FADS currently deployed in WA waters along with their coordinates? Check out our dedicated FADs webpage here or download the Recfishwest App!
