FAD fishing in Costa Rica is no longer legal for sportfishing charters following a 2026 ruling. In this article, we look at what changed and how other Central American countries compare.
For years, operators marketed offshore FAD fishing as one of the most effective ways to target marlin, tuna, mahi-mahi, and other pelagic species off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. Charter operators promoted multi-day “FAD and seamount” expeditions, and many older fishing guides still describe the practice as legal for sportfishing, even as Costa Rica maintained long-standing restrictions on commercial tuna FAD operations.
That changed in early 2026. Following a Constitutional Chamber ruling over environmental concerns, Costa Rica prohibited anchored Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), known locally as “plantados,” for all fishing activity, including sportfishing charters. The decision effectively shut down legal FAD-style sportfishing trips in the country and left a large amount of older online information outdated almost overnight.
The ruling has also highlighted how differently Central American countries approach offshore sportfishing regulation. While Costa Rica has taken a hard line against FADs, other countries in the region still openly advertise or tolerate FAD-style offshore fishing, particularly on the Pacific coast.
What Is FAD Fishing?
FAD fishing uses floating structures known as Fish Aggregating Devices, or FADs, to attract fish in open water. These devices can be either drifting or anchored offshore using cables, buoys, and submerged materials designed to create shade and shelter in otherwise empty stretches of ocean. The basic concept is to attract smaller fish to gather around the structure for protection, which in turn attracts larger predators. For commercial fleets, this can dramatically increase efficiency. And for sportfishing charters, it became a way to increase the chances of productive offshore trips.
In Costa Rica and elsewhere in Central America, FAD-style fishing became particularly associated with offshore marlin expeditions and multi-day bluewater trips. Some operators deployed anchored devices near offshore seamounts or along known migratory routes, while others used the term more loosely to describe offshore fishing around floating structure or fish concentrations.
Supporters argued that FADs made offshore trips more productive and reduced the amount of time spent searching open water. Critics, however, increasingly raised concerns about bycatch, marine debris, navigational hazards, and the broader ecological impact of artificially concentrating migratory species in fixed locations. In Costa Rica, those concerns eventually evolved from debate into direct legal action.
Why Costa Rica Banned FAD Fishing
Costa Rica’s restrictions on FADs originally focused mainly on industrial tuna fishing. But sportfishing charters continued advertising offshore FAD trips for years, particularly for marlin and tuna fishing on the Pacific coast.
In February 2026, Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber (known as the Sala IV) ruled that anchored FADs posed potential environmental and navigational risks and ordered authorities to prohibit and remove them. The ruling focused on concerns that the structures artificially concentrated fish, damaged marine ecosystems, and operated with little effective oversight.
Importantly, the Sala IV decision did not create a separate exemption for sportfishing charters. While many anglers view offshore billfishing as recreational tourism, Costa Rica regulates charter operations as licensed, revenue-generating fishing businesses operating under broader fisheries and maritime rules. In practice, authorities now treat anchored FAD use by sportfishing charters in the same way as other commercial fishing activity.
As a result, offshore FAD fishing is no longer legally promoted or operated in Costa Rica, even though many older websites and fishing guides still describe it as available. Most of that information simply predates the 2026 ruling.
Fish aggregation devices (FADs) are extending blue marlin seasons but at what cost? Fish are staying longer, growing healthier younger, or missing spawning cycles. This concentration makes them vulnerable, leading to overfishing and wiping out populations. pic.twitter.com/pBYfd4aPYu
— Fly Navarro ™ (@flynavarro) May 19, 2026
What Offshore Sportfishing Looks Like in Costa Rica Now
The ban on anchored FADs doesn’t mean offshore sportfishing has disappeared from Costa Rica. The country is still one of the best destinations in the world for marlin, sailfish, tuna, roosterfish, and mahi-mahi. Anglers of all abilities will absolutely enjoy themselves. What’s changed is the way many charters now operate offshore.
Rather than fishing around anchored artificial structures, operators now focus on natural seamounts, current lines, floating debris, bait concentrations, and traditional trolling techniques in open water. Multi-day offshore expeditions still exist, but the emphasis has shifted away from fixed FAD locations and back toward searching natural offshore environments.
This distinction matters because many older charter websites and fishing articles still use terms like “FAD fishing,” “seamount fishing,” and “offshore marlin expeditions” somewhat interchangeably. In reality, seamount fishing itself remains legal. Natural underwater mountains and offshore structure continue to attract pelagic species naturally and remain a major part of Costa Rica’s offshore sportfishing scene.
As a result, anglers booking offshore trips in Costa Rica today should ask operators specifically what they mean when advertising “FAD fishing” or “FAD-style” trips. In many cases, the online terminology has simply not caught up with the current regulations.
How the Rest of Central America Compares
Costa Rica now has some of the clearest restrictions on anchored FAD fishing in the region, but elsewhere in Central America the situation is far less consistent.
In Nicaragua and El Salvador, charter operators still openly advertise FAD-style offshore fishing trips, particularly for marlin and tuna on the Pacific coast. Neither country has announced a high-profile national prohibition similar to Costa Rica’s 2026 ruling, although regulations and enforcement can still vary locally.
Alongside Costa Rica, Panama is one of Central America’s strongest fishing destinations, but FADs are less central to its tourism marketing. Offshore fishing there is still heavily associated with seamounts, trolling, and open-water big-game fishing rather than dedicated FAD programs. Public discussion around FADs in Panama tends to focus more on industrial tuna fisheries than sportfishing charters.
Elsewhere, Guatemala and Honduras both have active sportfishing industries, but FAD-specific trips are less prominently marketed than in Costa Rica’s past or in parts of Nicaragua today. Guatemala, in particular, remains heavily focused on catch-and-release billfishing and traditional offshore trolling. In Belize, fishing is primarily centered around reefs, flats, inshore species, and reef-edge trolling rather than offshore marlin-focused FAD programs.
The Bottom Line
Costa Rica’s decision dramatically changed the legal status of FAD fishing for sport charters and created widespread confusion because so much older information online still describes the practice as legal or actively available. In other countries around the region, the picture remains far less clear-cut. Some countries still openly market FAD-style offshore fishing trips, while in others the practice is uncommon, loosely defined, or rarely discussed publicly at all.
And as already mentioned, terminology can cause confusion. Offshore operators often use terms like “FAD fishing,” “seamount fishing,” and “offshore marlin expeditions” interchangeably, even though they may refer to very different fishing methods.
For anglers planning offshore fishing trips in Costa Rica or elsewhere, the most important step is simply to ask operators directly how their trips are conducted and whether they comply with current local regulations. In Costa Rica especially, the legal landscape around FAD fishing has changed significantly in a very short period of time.
