Tuna industry creates first private fund for FAD recovery in the Eastern Pacific

The Organisation of Associated Producers of Large Freezer Tuna Vessels (OPAGAC) has established the Ocean FAD Recovery Foundation, the first private fund created by the tuna sector to finance projects focused on the tracking, recovery, and removal of drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the Eastern Pacific.

The Ocean FAD Recovery Foundation was presented by Miguel Herrera, on behalf of OPAGAC, during the FAD Working Group held as part of the 17th Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which took place in La Jolla, California, in June 2026.

The initiative is driven by tuna industry associations from Spain, Ecuador, Panama, and the United States, representing 108 purse seine tuna vessels, approximately one-fifth of the purse seine fleet operating in the Pacific Ocean.

The Ocean FAD Recovery Foundation aims to contribute to the protection of sensitive marine ecosystems and engage other stakeholders across the tuna value chain, including additional vessel owners and fleets, suppliers, processors, and tuna marketers.

"This initiative reflects the tuna sector's commitment to developing collaborative solutions to reduce the impact of drifting FADs. Cooperation between vessel owners, suppliers, processors and marketers will be key to advancing the protection of marine ecosystems in the Eastern Pacific," Herrera.

 About OPAGAC

Founded in 1982, OPAGAC brings together nine companies operating freezer tuna purse seine vessels. Its fleet of 47 purse seiners catches around 400,000 tonnes of tuna annually, representing approximately 8% of the global tuna catch.

OPAGAC vessels operate across the world's three major oceans — the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific — under the jurisdiction of the four leading Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) for tuna fisheries: the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

In 2025, the organization warned that tuna catches by Asian fleets in the Atlantic had increased by 68% since 2016, while the presence of European fleets in the region had declined significantly. OPAGAC has also denounced the regulatory pressure imposed on the European fleet and the operational and financial burden borne by European vessels.