The fifth Meeting of the WECAFC Working Group (WG) on Fisheries using Anchored (or Moored) Fish Aggregating Devices (aFAD) was held in a hybrid format from 17–19 April 2023, hosted by the Commonwealth of Dominica. The meeting was attended by various WECAFC Members, including Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominican Republic, European Union, France, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and the United States of America. The objectives included reviewing data and recent developments in member countries with aFAD fisheries, discussing working documents related to the implementation of the 2022–2024 workplan, providing a status update on the implementation of relevant instruments and recommendations, and developing recommendations and a proposed work plan for future work.

The twelfth session of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) was held virtually from 19 to 20 June 2023. The SAG considered the outcomes of the work carried out by various joint working groups between 2022 and 2023 and their recommendations to the 19th Session of WECAFC . A revised version of the Caribbean Regional anchored aFAD Management plan and a revised version of the Guide for improved monitoring of anchored aFAD catches and improved assessment of anchored aFADs impact on stocks first reviewed at the eleventh session of SAG were tabled.

This publication contains the national reports and technical papers from 14 countries in the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission region on the development and management of fishing around fish aggregating devices, presented at the meeting held in October 2001. The reports and papers are reproduced in the language in which they were presented at the meeting.

The meeting saw the active participation of Government officials, researchers, and other stakeholders from WECAFC, Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), and Organization for the Fishing and Aquaculture Sector of the Central American Isthmus (OSPESCA), and 14 countries/territories member countries that engage in the research, harvest and management of fish species that aggregate to spawn in the WECAFC region. The meeting discussed country updates towards the national and regional management of spawning aggregations. These updates include new regulatory measures, new priority species distinctions, and upcoming activities towards spawning aggregation management. The meeting also included plenary discussions on: • educational and communication materials related to the Working Group (WG). The WG was presented with an update on the progress made to date on these materials. They were also reminded of the intended use of these materials; • the regional communicaton strategy, including the diversity of engagement opportunites through short films, blogs and press releases; • a new regional project funded by the European Union Directorate General for Marine Affairs (EU DG MARE) and the associated program of work to be accomplished under the project; and • updating the previously submitted recommendation WECAFC/XVIII/2022/4.

The report includes information on the status of FAD development and fishing activities in the Lesser Antilles. It also includes an account of the group's deliberations and a record of the decisions and recommendations that the group made relative to the objectives of the meeting.

The first meeting of the CFMC/WECAFC/OSPESCA/CRFM Working Group on Spawning Aggregations was held in Miami, United States of America, from 29 to 31 October 2013. The meeting brought together experts working on spawning aggregations of fish from all over Western Central Atlantic region. The Working Group noted with concern the ongoing declines in stocks of many aggregating species and particularly groupers and snappers in the Wider Caribbean Region, the reduced numbers of aggregations and the relatively smaller size of remaining aggregations. The Working Group also verified that the status of Nassau grouper, Goliath grouper and several other species stocks in the Wider Caribbean region should be considered "overexploited," and that some stocks can even be regarded as "depleted." The meeting issued a "Declaration of Miami," which included a recommendation to the fifteenth session of WECAFC on the establishment of a regional closed season for Nassau Grouper fisheries in the WECAFC area to protect spawning aggregations of this species.