The significant contribution of FADs to Solomon Taiyo Limited's fishing operations

From 1972, when Solomon Taiyo Limited (stl) started a pole-and-line fishing operation, to 1980, stl vessels had been catching tuna almost exclusively from surface free-swimming schools. In 1981, a fad programme group purse-seining fishing operation, using the Filipino payao model, was put in place. Results were excellent and STL vessels quickly adapted their fishing methods to make the best use of fads. STL slightly modified the original payao design to better suit its own needs and nowadays, about 90% of the group purse seine catch, i.e. 5,800 t annually, and around 60-70% of the pole-and-line catch, i.e. about 15,000 t annually, come from fad fishing. fads bring benefits not only to stl but also to the rural communities of the region. For stl, it allows savings on the operational costs, especially those of pole-and-line fishing operations, reduction of searching time and a better regularity of fish landings. For the rural communities, it gives better returns to bait-ground owners through royalties paid by stl for their baitfishing boats and it allows local fishing communities (known as canoe-fishermen) to increase their catches using fishing methods (artisanal) such as trolling and midwater handlines set around fads. This provides fish for family consumption and a source of income from fish sold. Overall, the importance of fads to stl's fishing operation, and therefore to the local economy as a whole, is high, although no precise value can be attached to it.