Answers from Guillermo Moran.
Question: What is your personal connection with the ocean?
Answer (Guillermo Morán): My personal connection with the ocean is very strong. I am a fisheries engineer, and for the past 30 years, my professional career has been linked to fisheries management—not only in Ecuador but also regionally and across Latin America. I have been involved in this field from a very young age; it’s my career. That is why I have a close connection to the fishing sector and marine conservation, as I have also worked on marine conservation projects.
Question: How did the biodegradable and non-entangling FAD project begin?
Answer: This project started at the very beginning of Tunacons with the goal of replacing traditional FADs, which used non-biodegradable materials and nets that could entangle vulnerable species such as turtles and sharks. Member companies decided to look for alternatives to develop FADs made from biodegradable, non-polluting, and non-entangling materials.
This involved research and information exchange with regional and international organizations such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the ISSF Foundation. We developed prototypes through scientific and technical trials to determine how materials would degrade while maintaining tuna fishing productivity.
Training and informing fishermen was not easy because it required changing their traditional way of building and using FADs. It has been an 8-year process of research, testing, and training. We have tested more than 5,000 FADs in the past 4 or 5 years, which allowed us to define a prototype that we plan to implement 100% starting next year.
Question: What is a FAD, and how did its use begin?
Answer: A FAD (Fish Aggregating Device) is a fishing tool that helps attract tuna. It was discovered over 30 years ago in the Western Pacific, and its use began in the Eastern Pacific in the 1990s. Captains noticed that tuna naturally aggregate around floating objects such as logs, dead whales, or even plastics.
Based on that observation, they began deploying artificial FADs—“plantado” them, as they say—to gather tuna. This practice began in Ecuador between 1992 and 1994 and produced good results because it reduced costs, improved efficiency, and allowed faster catches.
Today, FADs have evolved: they were once simple radio buoys, and now they are satellite buoys with sonar. They account for 80% of tuna catches by the Eastern Pacific fleet.
Question: Where does the fleet operate, and how many FADs are currently in use?
Answer: Our fleet operates in the Eastern Pacific, between 10° north and 10° south, up to 150° west. According to the IATTC, there are approximately 30,000 active FADs in this region, operated by fleets from Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, the United States, and the European Union.
Captains know where their FADs are, although there is both voluntary and involuntary exchange at sea. FADs work best in areas with high tuna abundance; otherwise, placing them is useless.
Question: What is the lifespan of traditional versus biodegradable FADs?
Answer: Traditional FADs last almost a year. Biodegradable FADs are designed to degrade within 3 to 4 months, with the goal of lasting no more than 6 months. They are made from plant-based organic materials produced in Ecuador, such as abacá, which reduces environmental impact: they don’t generate microplastics or entangle vulnerable species.
Question: What is being done to prevent FADs from affecting protected areas?
Answer: Tunacons runs FAD recovery programs with fishermen in the Galápagos to remove them before they run aground on the islands; so far, an average of 12 FADs per year have been recovered. We are also starting a program with the Palmira Atoll to retrieve those approaching that area. Biodegradable FADs will have much less impact, but they will still be collected in protected or tourist zones.
Question: How is the impact on juvenile tuna and tuna populations controlled?
Answer: We monitor size and weight through IATTC observers. Although juveniles are caught, the primary target species is skipjack. Research is ongoing with institutions such as AZTI and the ISSF to reduce juvenile mortality, including testing juvenile tuna exclusion grids.
Two months ago, the IATTC’s scientific staff assessed that yellowfin tuna populations are in good condition. There are also catch limits for bigeye tuna, and if any vessel exceeds these limits, they must comply with additional closed-season days as compensation.
Question: What does MSC certification mean for Ecuador?
Answer: The MSC certification imposes conditions, such as improving the release of vulnerable species. We are training crews to safely release sharks and manta rays and studying their survival rates.
We also run FAD recovery programs, plastic cleanup initiatives, and support artisanal fishermen—going beyond MSC requirements. We aim to be increasingly transparent and responsible, using electronic monitoring and digital traceability so markets can know whether the tuna came from a biodegradable FAD or a vessel implementing multiple responsible practices.
Question: Do you think there will be a specific logo certifying this effort in the future?
Answer: For now, MSC is our guarantee, but we dream of the day when our standards—including additional ocean responsibility measures—will be recognized in markets with a dedicated logo.