Fish aggregating device (FAD)
Also written: FAD, fishing gear
Floating rafts, nets and lines used by fishing fleets — hazards to propellers when they are adrift or unlit.
Fish aggregating devices are rafts, often with nets hanging below, that tuna fleets set adrift or moor to attract fish; many carry satellite buoys, few carry lights. Lost nets and longlines drift for years. Warnings report them when they are found in a shipping lane or near a coast.
Fishing gear is also one of the reasons many warnings exist at all: moorings, cables and wrecks are announced partly so that fishermen can keep their gear clear of them.
What the archive shows
520 messages in this archive use “Fish aggregating device (FAD)”, the earliest issued 1994-03-17 and the latest 2026-08-20. None of them is in force in the latest lists we collected. A hazard reported again and again counts once per message.
The largest yearly count is 2020, with 43 messages. Collection is incomplete between 2024-05 and 2026-08-17, so 2024, 2025 and 2026 are not comparable with fully collected years.
Debris accounts for 346 of 520 recorded messages (67%), the largest warning type group in this selection.
Located messages that use it fall in 33 sea areas; the most frequent are Indian Ocean (83), English Channel (77) and Timor Sea (64).
Messages that use it are issued most often in November (69 across all years) and least often in February (29).
By warning series: HYDROPAC 270, HYDROLANT 223, NAVAREA XII 8 and NOAAORR 8, and 2 more.
Messages using it, by year of issue
By month of issue, all years
Where it appears · 33 sea areas
How it reads in recent messages
- NAVAREA XII 564/26 · Debris · North Pacific Ocean2026-08-20
NORTH PACIFIC. 1. FAD ADRIFT IN VICINITY 04-21.66N 081-47.40W AT 191700Z AUG. 2. CANCEL THIS MSG 230551Z AUG…
Fad adrift in vicinity 04-21.66N 081-47.40W at 191700Z aug → - HYDROPAC 2089/26 · Other · Coral Sea2026-07-21
CORAL SEA. AUSTRALIA. FAD TEMPORARILY ANCHORED IN 26-36.55S 153-30.16E AT 210506Z JUL.
Fad temporarily anchored in 26-36.55S 153-30.16E at 210506Z jul → - HYDROPAC 1559/25 · Debris · Timor Sea2025-06-16
TIMOR SEA. AUSTRALIA. DNC 04. 1. FAD ADRIFT IN VICINITY 09-50.77S 131-07.97E AT 160413Z JUN. 2. CANCEL THIS MSG 190938Z JUN…
Fad adrift in vicinity 09-50.77S 131-07.97E at 160413Z jun → - HYDROPAC 24/25 · Other · Great Australian Bight2025-01-06
GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT. AUSTRALIA. DNC 05. FISHING GEAR REPORTED IN 35-20.50S 135-36.50E. ONE MILE BERTH REQUESTED.
Fishing gear reported in 35-20.50S 135-36.50E → - HYDROLANT 2086/24 · Other · North Sea2024-09-30
NORTH SEA. DNC 20. 1. FISHING GEAR, MARKED BY BUOY, ABANDONED IN 60-17.30N 001-58.50E. 2. CANCEL HYDROLANT 2078/24.
Fishing gear, marked by buoy, abandoned in 60-17.30N 001-58.50E → - HYDROLANT 915/24 · Debris · Celtic Sea2024-04-29
CELTIC SEA. FRANCE. DNC 20. 1. SUBMERGED FISHING NET ADRIFT IN 48-09.04N 005-29.24W. 2. CANCEL THIS MSG 022030Z MAY 24.
Submerged fishing net adrift in 48-09.04N 005-29.24W → - HYDROPAC 1377/24 · Debris · Indian Ocean2024-04-26
EASTERN INDIAN OCEAN. DNC 04. 1. ORANGE FAD WITH ROPE ADRIFT IN 14-52.37S 120-54.80E AT 260058Z APR. 2. CANCEL THIS MSG 290328Z APR…
Orange fad with rope adrift in 14-52.37S 120-54.80E at 260058Z apr → - HYDROPAC 1324/24 · Debris · Indian Ocean2024-04-23
EASTERN INDIAN OCEAN. DNC 04. 1. FAD WITH ROPE ADRIFT IN 17-10.68S 119-17.57E AT 230430Z APR. 2. CANCEL THIS MSG 260612Z APR…
Fad with rope adrift in 17-10.68S 119-17.57E at 230430Z apr →
Earliest in the archive
- NAVAREA IV 245/94 · Incidents1994-03-17
…OCEAN GOING DRY CARGO VESSELS (150 TO 500 FEET IN LENGTH) AND (B) FORMER HIGH SEAS DRIFT NET VESSELS (80 TO 150 FEET IN LENGTH) WITH A SUPERSTRUCTURE AMIDSHIPS, RIGGING OR HEAVY…
Maritime smuggling of undocumented aliens has dramatically increased →
Often in the same message
Related terms
- Adrift
- Loose and moving with wind and current — a vessel, container, buoy, log or anything else no longer secured.
- Aquaculture / fish farm
- Fish pens, mussel lines and seaweed farms — moored structures that spread across coastal waters.
Warning types that use it
- Debris — Logs, buoys, mooring gear and other objects adrift.
Counts cover the messages in this archive that use the term, recounted 2026-09-24; see coverage for what is collected and since when. Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA and coastal broadcasts.