501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4018. While inshore fisheries showed signs of over harvest, offshore pelagics were believed underutilized. In the CNMI, fishing is conducted from small boats with limited fuel capacity and restricted overall range.
Fishermen travel offshore to harvest fish, normally by trolling or chasing fast-moving schools.
This type of fishing is relatively inefficient requiring substantial fuel. Given the lack of mid-sized or large offshore commercial pelagic fishing vessels, it was perceived the small boat fleet needed enhancement to have even the slightest chance of commercial viability. FADs provided one possible enhancement method. In 1990, the CNMI DFW received S-K support for a project with the overall goal of developing a system of FADs in CNMI waters. The DFW had previously purchased the line and hardware for eight FAD systems but lacked the resources to purchase buoys and pay for actual system deployments.