Fish aggregating devices

Fish aggregating devices (FADs) are human-made structures anchored offshore that attract fish, making them easier to catch so you can have a great fishing experience.

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is installing FADs off the Queensland coast as part of the FADs program.

During the first stage of the program, 25 surface FADs were deployed off South East Queensland—from K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) to the Gold Coast. These FADs have been popular with fishers, with great catches of mahi mahi reported.

As part of the next stage of the program, FADs have been deployed off these locations:

Weipa—4 surface FADs
Wide Bay Burnett—3 surface and 4 all-water FADs
South East Queensland—12 subsurface FADs
Karumba—2 all-water FADs.

Additional FADs are also being considered for other parts of Queensland.

Fish attracted to FADs

Most fish attracted to the FADs are seasonal pelagic fish, which travel in the warm water delivered by ocean currents. Species caught around the FADs include mahi mahi, wahoo, tuna, cobia, mackerel and billfish.

Mahi mahi are the most common species of fish caught around the FADs and are the perfect sport fish:

They have a remarkable growth rate, known to grow as fast as 7cm in a week.
Adult fish can grow to almost 200cm (weighing up to 40kg).
They can be sexually mature as early as 6 months of age and reproduce at a high rate.
They are relatively short-lived—they rarely live past 2 years of age.

Safety around FADs

Find out how to fish safely around FADs.
To report a lost or damaged FAD, email fads@daf.qld.gov.au or call 13 25 23.

Monitoring programs

You can help monitor fish numbers around the FADs by:

providing details of your recreational fishing trips at the FADs via the FADs fishing form
providing your catch details to Fisheries Queensland boat ramp survey staff at public boat ramps
tagging pelagic fish caught near FADs (find out how to get involved in the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Game Fish Tagging Program)
reporting the capture of tagged mahi mahi by calling the phone number on the tag or emailing fads@daf.qld.gov.au.

Read the results of the FADs boat ramp surveys 2019 to 2021.

FADs are also fitted with acoustic receivers that detect and track acoustic-tagged animals. They form part of the Integrated Marine Observing System national receiver network for animal tracking around Australia.