ESCAPED FISH BUOY FROM MAKAPU'U, OAHU FOUND AT FRENCH FRIGATE SHOALS

Today, as the vessel Rapture motored to its early morning dive location, researchers spotted a large orange buoy and flag floating just inside the reef along the South side of French Frigate Shoals near Disappearing Island.

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Guessing it was an escaped weather buoy or navigational aid, divers conducting a transect dive near the buoy went to inspect it. They found that the buoy was an escaped Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) #T which was installed at Makapu'u on Oahu in the Main Hawaiian Islands. The FAD was dragging a long mooring chain along the coral reef (above).

Fish Aggregating Devices, or FAD's, have been installed at various locations around the Hawaiian Islands by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). FAD's serve as an attraction device in the water to aid fishermen in their search for fish. The way FAD's work is that small fish, which congregate around floating objects, are attracted to the buoys.  These small fish, in turn, attract larger and larger fish which feed on them. These larger fish, like tuna, ono (wahoo) and mahi-mahi (dolphin fish), are target species for many commercial and recreational fishermen.

According to DLNR Aquatic Resources officials, it's unknown exactly when Buoy #T broke off its mooring, but it was sometime between 1995 and 1999. The buoy was obviously moved by the currents to French Frigate Shoals. "This is not the first FAD to show up in the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands," said Athline Clark of DLNR. "Recently a different one found its way to Midway and at least 3 others broke off and were found in the northwestern islands in the early '80's."

DLNR officials would like to retrieve the buoy and reattach it to its mooring, but according to the divers that found the buoy, retrieval may be difficult if not impossible, due to the location of the FAD within the reef and the size and weight of the buoy and chain. DLNR will coordinate with the agencies involved in the upcoming marine debris cleanup scheduled for late October to assess whether or not retrieval may be possible at that time. If so, the buoy could be loaded aboard a Coast Guard Cutter and brought back to Honolulu. For more information, contact Athline Clark, DLNR, 808/587-0099.

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