The fifth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Committee on Aquaculture (CAQ) was attended by delegates from eleven Members of the Commission. The session reviewed the status and trends of aquaculture in the region. It appraised the activities carried out during the intersessional period, especially the work performed by the Revitalization Project of the Information System for the Promotion of Aquaculture in the Mediterranean (SIPAM) and the outcome of the two expert meetings, respectively on the re-establishment of the Network on Environment and Aquaculture in the Mediterranean (EAM) and on the merging of the Network on Technology and Aquaculture in the Mediterranean (TECAM) with the Network on Social, Economic and Legal Aspects of Aquaculture in the Mediterranean (SELAM). The Committee agreed that a single subsidiary body, entitled Coordinating Meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Groups (CMWG), be established to replace these networks. It decided that th e CMWG will initially be supported by the following three Ad Hoc Working Groups, on: Marketing, Sustainability, and on Siting and Carrying Capacity. The Committee agreed on the membership, modus operandi and mandate for the CMWG and adopted terms of reference for the Coordinator of each working group. CAQ also reviewed and endorsed a short- and medium-term reference framework for the work of the working groups. It acknowledged the training activities carried out by the International Centre for A dvanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies/Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (CIHEAM/IAMZ). CAQ elected a new Chairperson and two Vice-chairpersons for the Committee.