ABSTRACT

FAO/Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission.

Report of the Second Meeting of the WECAFC Ad Hoc Flyingfish Working Group of the Eastern Caribbean. Bridgetown, Barbados, 8 - 12 January 2001.

FAO Fisheries Report. No. 670. Rome -, FAO. 2002. 156 p.

Part one of this report provides a summary of the proceedings of the second Meeting of the WECAFC Ad Hoc Flyingfish Working Group (FFWG) of the Eastern Caribbean. It contains the reports of the participant’s evaluation of their national Flyingfish data sets, for catch - rate standardization and for developing and interpreting standardized catch - rate time series for their country’s flyingfish fishery.

The other major topics on the group’s agenda included: the Social and Economic Status of the Eastern Caribbean Flyingfish Fishery, the Future Options for Management of the Eastern Caribbean Flyingfish Resources and a Proposal to Establish a Working Group on Moored Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs).

The results of meeting revealed that there were residual deficiencies in the national data collection systems that will require further corrective action before standardization at the subregional level can be achieved. The group considered this requirement vital to the development of a workable management regime. The summary of the subregional status of the Sociology and Economics of the Eastern Caribbean Flyingfish Fishery highlighted many similarities and differences; it also highlighted areas where the data gathering methodologies required refinement. The group was cautious in formulating firm recommendations to establish regional co-operation in research and management. It therefore recommended that in light of the need for further adjustments in the existing data and or collection systems a ‘generic draft’ outline of a Sub-regional Flyingfish Management Plan (SFFMP) should be mooted for comments from the WECAFC Scientific Advisory Group.

The second part of the report assembles the full Managers’ Reports on their Preliminary Analyses and Attempts at Standardization of their Flyingfish data sets. Six National Reports on the Social and Economic Status of Commercial Flyingfish Fishery are also included in this section.