Manual On Anchored Fish Aggregating Devices Fads

Manual on Anchored Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs)

Guide for improved monitoring of anchored fish aggregating device catches and improved assessment of anchored fish aggregating device impacts on stocks in the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) region

This guide is mainly aimed at national/local fishery authorities and researchers involved in developing and implementing fishery data collection systems. It first describes recent efforts in improving fishery data collection systems involving aFADs in the WECAFC region, with focus on the Eastern Caribbean. It then builds on such efforts to propose a way forward that hinges on the potentially transformative power of information and communications technology (ICT) tools to address past and current data deficiencies. It is expected that the full uptake and implementation of many of the monitoring and data collection recommendations provided here will be incremental and will require a phased-in approach for adoption.

The Caribbean Regional Management Plan for the anchored fish aggregating device fishery

This document presents the Caribbean Regional Management Plan for the anchored fish aggregating device (aFAD) fishery, which stems from the terms of reference and workplan of the WECAFC ad hoc Joint Working Group on Development of Sustainable Anchored Fish Aggregating Device (aFAD) Fishing in the Lesser Antilles for the 2019–2021 period. These terms of reference were formalized during the third meeting of the working group held from 30 April to 2 May 2019 and endorsed during the Seventeenth Session of the Commission held 15–18 July 2019 in Miami, United States of America. The terms of reference included the review of the CRFM Subregional Management Plan for FAD Fisheries in the Eastern Caribbean to adapt it to a broader WECAFC regional FAD management plan.