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.

This publication contains the key proceedings and technical report of the Second International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism, held in Davos, Switzerland, 1-3 October 2007. The Davos Declaration and the summary of the conference debates demonstrate a clear commitment of the tourism sector to address climate change issues, and provide concrete recommendations for actions. The extensive technical report included in this publication was commissioned to an international team of experts by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It provides a synthesis of the state of knowledge about current and future likely impacts of climate change on tourism destinations around the world, possible implications for tourist demand, current levels and trends in GHG emissions from the tourism sector, and an overview of policy and management responses adopted by the key stakeholder groups (international organizations, public administrations, the tourism industry) with respect to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. This publication is principally aimed at the tourism industry and government organizations at the different levels, who will have the primary responsibility of developing mitigation and adaptation strategies to respond to the challenges that global climate change will bring to the tourism sector. It also constitutes an important tool for international agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and financial institutions.

This is a report on the guidance given to fisheries data-managers on improving their collecting, processing, storage and reporting capabilities of information on the status and trends of their marine capture fisheries, provided by the CARICOM Fisheries Unit and the FAO. There was also proposals and discussion on expanding the data collection on national fisheries to include social and economic information.

This publication presents an overview of the status of tourism in SIDS and shows the key importance of sustainable development. It presents many tourism performances and impacts and the factors affecting tourism in SIDS. It provides policy orientations, guidelines and other tools on how to develop and manage tourism in a sustainable manner.

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.

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 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.