Abandoned tuna fishing devices are strangling wildlife and polluting ecuador’s galápagos marine reserve

A disturbing 2022 Instagram video by Galápagos fisher Walter Borbor reveals a grim reality plaguing one of the world’s most treasured marine sanctuaries. The footage shows a large black floating device—locally called a “plantado”—with ropes wrapped around the tail of a decomposing whale in the heart of the Galápagos Marine Reserve. These devices are actually fish aggregating devices (FADs), tools deployed by industrial tuna fleets to attract and capture large quantities of tuna at once.

Since becoming the dominant tuna fishing method over the past 25 years, FADs have created an escalating environmental crisis. Ecuador’s tuna fleet alone has grown by roughly 50% during this period, and abandoned FADs from international fleets are increasingly drifting into the protected Galápagos waters. As these devices break down, they release plastic pollution, damage fragile coral reefs, and pose serious hazards to local fishing boats.

The ecological toll is devastating. Researchers from the Charles Darwin Foundation regularly discover sharks, sea turtles, sea lions, and seabirds either entangled in FAD netting or already dead from these encounters. The devices essentially become floating death traps for the very wildlife the marine reserve was created to protect.

While Galápagos conservation organizations are now collaborating to track and remove these hazardous devices, the fundamental problem persists: FADs continue to be deployed in international waters outside the reserve’s boundaries. Until the root cause is addressed through stronger international regulations and industry accountability, the Galápagos’ unique marine ecosystem remains under constant threat from this preventable pollution.