Recfishwest is excited to announce the launch of this summer’s new Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) season, with 30 devices being deployed across the southern half of WA in the coming weeks.
This year’s rollout also includes innovative fish-monitoring technology that will be trialled for the first time in Australia. Check it out in the video below!
Ten FADs are already in position off the north metro coast, behind Rottnest, and off Rockingham and Mandurah, ready for action.
An additional 20 FADs, stretching from Steep Point to Albany, will be deployed by the end of November, setting the stage for another fantastic summer of pelagic fishing for dolphinfish, tuna, billfish and the like.
CHECK OUT OUR FADS WEBSITE PAGE FOR THE FADS’ CURRENT STATUS AND COORDINATES
Sounding out an even better future for FADs
At the season launch at Hillarys, Minister for Fisheries Don Punch joined Recfishwest CEO Dr Andrew Rowland to unveil the sonar technology that will be trialled on FADs this summer.
These buoys will provide 24/7 live data on the number and size of fish gathering around the devices, offering valuable insights into the behavior of pelagic species and supporting the continuous improvement of sportfishing opportunities on the FADs.
The new Satlink SLX+ sounders being trialled will deploy a 35-degree beam and provide 24/7 information on the biomass of fish aggregating within 10 depth intervals (down to 115m depth).
To save bandwidth, data from the sounder will be streamed hourly, with five-minute intervals captured from an hour before to an hour after sunrise, a key period for pelagic fishing.
This will help DPIRD assess fish abundance under the FADs and correlate it with factors like temperature and depth.
The data will potentially help refine future FAD placements and deployment timing.
Ongoing evolution
CEO Dr Andrew Rowland said, “It’s great to see the Government backing in this program, which began almost 30 years ago with the Perth Game Fishing Club and has since evolved through Recfishwest’s successful Statewide FADs trial.
“We welcome DPIRD trialling these sonar buoys on six of the locations from the Abrolhos through to Albany to help better understand what fish are turning up and at what time of year.”
“We look forward to more innovation of this kind supporting better recfishing.
On behalf of the cast of thousands, Recfishwest will continue to keep all fishers up to date with all FADs developments.
