The overall objective of this 10-year Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan is to guide the implementation of a set of identified management measures that can be applied at the regional or sub-regional level for the sustainability of queen conch populations and for the maintenance of a healthy fishery and livelihood of the people involved in the fishery. The ecosystem approach forms the basis of this Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan, enhanci ng partnerships and collaboration throughout the Wider Caribbean region to improve the long-term governance of queen conch fisheries across the Caribbean. The Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan was formulated with the following specific objectives: 1. To improve the collection and integration of scientific data needed to determine the overall queen conch population status as the basis for the application of ecosystem-based management. 2. To harmonize measures aimed a t increasing the stability of the queen conch population and to implement best-management practices for a sustainable fishery. 3. To increase coordination and collaboration toward achieving better education and outreach, monitoring and research, co-management and strengthening, optimizing and harmonizing regional governance arrangements. 4. To adopt regional management measures, which incorporate the precautionary approach

The sixth meeting of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) Working Group on Queen conch was held in a hybrid format. The meeting was hosted in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 16 March 2023, but most attendees participated in the meeting remotely. The following members and regional partner organizations participated: Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, United States of America, Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), Centre for the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife for the Wider Caribbean Region (CAR SPAW/SPAW RAC-Guadeloupe), the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC), Organization for Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Central American Isthmus (OSPESCA), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI), the Regional Committee of Marine Fisheries and Marine Aquaculture of Guadeloupe (CRPMEM for its acronym in French) the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (Belize). Discussions focused on monitoring the implementation of the Regional Queen conch Fisheries Management and Conservation Plan, various Queen conch recommendations and resolutions along with recommendations adopted at the 18th meeting of the Commission in 2022. Participants reviewed the CITES CoP19 decisions and recommendations and discussed the progress of activities as called for in the Work Plan for 2022–2024.

"The purpose of this amendment is to revise management reference points and status determination criteria for the Caribbean queen conch, snapper, grouper, and parrotfish; specify Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Accountability Measures (AMs) for those species or units classified as undergoing overfishing to prevent overfishing of these species or units; establish framework measures to facilitate regulatory modifications; adjust management measures as needed to constrain harvest to specified annual catch limits; and minimize, to the extent practicable, negative socioeconomic impacts that may result from the amendment actions. To achieve these goals, six actions are included in the amendment. Action 1 amends the unit composition in the Reef Fish Fishery Management Unit. Action 2 revises management reference points to transition U.S. Caribbean reef fish and queen conch management from that established in the Comprehensive Sustainable Fisheries Amendment (Caribbean SFA Amendment) of 2005 (CFMC 2005) to that mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as Amended through January 12, 2007 (MSRA). Action 3 works in concert with Action 2 and provides the specific details regarding the distribution and numerical value of ACLs for the various U.S. Caribbean island groups, including Puerto Rico (PR), St. Croix (STX) in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), and the island group of St. Thomas and St. John (STT/STJ) in the USVI. Action 4 proposes management measures with specific emphasis on harvest prohibitions for three parrotfish species (midnight, blue, rainbow) that serve an essential ecological function and which are relatively large and long-lived. Action 4 also proposes recreational bag limits for reef fish. Action 5 provides alternative guidelines for triggering AMs and for applying those AMs. Finally, Action 6 establishes framework provisions separately for reef fish and queen conch. In concert, these actions serve to provide a basic foundation for reef fish and queen conch fisheries management in the U.S. Caribbean"--Executive summary (page 23).

The fifth meeting of the CFMC/OSPESCA/WECAFC/CRFM/CITES Working Group on Queen Conch (QCWG) was held in a hybrid format. The meeting was hosted in San Juan, Puerto Rico from 13 to 14 December 2021, but most attendees participated in the meeting remotely. The following members and regional partner organizations participated: Bahamas, Belize, Colombia, European Union, France (on behalf of Guadeloupe and Martinique), Honduras, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the United States of America, the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC), the Organization for the Fishing and Aquaculture Sector of the Central American Isthmus (OSPESCA). The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI), the Regional Committee of Marine Fisheries and Marine Aquaculture of Guadeloupe, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (Belize). Experts were also in attendance from the Scientific, Statistical and Technical Advisory Group of the Queen Conch Working Group (QCWG/SSTAG). Discussions focused on the progress made towards implementation of the Regional Queen Conch Fisheries Management and Conservation Plan and recommendations adopted at the 17th meeting of the Commission in 2019. Participants learned about collaborative work on Queen conch, especially at the regional level, and an overview of the intersessional activities undertaken.

The Fourth meeting of the CFMC/OSPESCA/WECAFC/CRFM/CITES Working Group on Queen Conch was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico from 16 to 17 December 2019. Discussions focused on strengthening national, regional and international efforts and uplifting responsibilities and commitments for the management and conservation and trade in queen conch and related or interacting species or fisheries in the Western Central Atlantic. Participants also considered how to strengthen the livelihoods of the people depending on these resources by following the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and in accordance with management goals agreed in the Regional Queen Conch Fisheries Management and Conservation Plan, which remains a matter of priority. La cuarta reunión del Grupo de trabajo conjunto CFMC/OSPESCA/COPACO/CRFM/CITES sobre el caracol rosado se celebró en San Juan, Puerto Rico, del 16 al 17 de diciembre de 2019. Las discusiones se centraron en el fortalecimiento de los esfuerzos nacionales, regionales e internacionales y la ampliación de las responsabilidades y compromisos para la ordenación, conservación y comercio del caracol rosado y las especies -o pesquerías- relacionadas -o con las que interactúa- en el Atlántico centro-occidental. Los participantes también estudiaron cómo fortalecer los medios de vida de quienes dependen de esos recursos, en consonancia con el Código de Conducta para la Pesca Responsable y los objetivos de ordenación acordados en el Plan regional para la ordenación y conservación del caracol rosado, que continúa siendo una cuestión prioritaria.

This review was developed as a project in response to the needs of the Intersessional Working Group of WECAFC in its task of identifying key options and priorities. The review describes a group of selected species that are considered to be important to Member States of the WECAFC. It classifies them into transboundary and straddling/highly migratory stocks and their fisheries and provides information on the state of exploitation of the selected species. The review also considers the ecological connectivity between the high seas and the EEZs of coastal nations. Lastly, it highlights issues that need to be addressed to generate a sound scientific knowledge base in support of the strategic reorientation of the Commission.

This workshop reviewed available information on national, institutional and personal experiences in relation to this issue. Relevant ecological considerations were reviewed and suggestions as how to consider these issues in terms of International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas were discussed and documented.--Publisher's description