Payao construction and setting

Abstract

Natural and man-made objects which drift in the sea often attract certain species of pelagic fish (fish which swim near the sur­face of the sea). The payao is a specially made raft which is used to attract schools of pelagic fish such as tuna. Payaos (also known as Fish Aggregating Devices) are used in the Philippines, Malay­sia and other Asian countries. They are very effective when used during purse sein­ing (see Harvest 5(3)) or trolling opera­tions. They have not been used tradit­ionally in Papua New Guinea. The Fisheries Section of D.P.I. in Rabaul has made and set several payaos to find out how effective they are in Papua New Guinea's waters.