Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission Wecafc Report Of The First Session Of The Wecafc Committee For The Development And Management Of Fisheries In The Lesser Antilles PDF Download

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.