ABSTRACT
Fishermen have learned from experience that the best fishing and most desirable pelagic fish can be found around flotsam, buoys, and other floating objects in the ocean. To encourage this behavioral phenomenon, fish aggregating devices are strategically placed at surface and/or midwater depths. Attractors have been made of palm fronds, discarded nets, fabric or net-covered fiberglass frames, synthetic streamers or flags, and other assorted materials found to be attractive to fish. The expense of the moorings justifies more durable floats and subsurface fish attractors than the payaos and haybongs they duplicate. The technology of midwater fish attractors has evolved from the crudest structures to those made of space-age materials. Midwater fish attractors are extremely effective tools, which if misused could lead to overharvesting of certain species or detrimental side effects. New technology in the construction of fish attractors must also be complemented with equally sophisticated legal and administrative innovations to ensure environmental safety and social acceptance.
