A new programme concerning the experimentation of about thirty Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) is to start in the Cape Verde Islands at the end of 1999. In this context, this communication is intended: - to evaluate the halieutic, economic and social conditions of the artisanal fishery in this archipelago, notably in terms of assets and constraints. Although these conditions are very heterogeneous depending on islands, the fads seem to be able to help the stabilization and the development of the fishing activities, disadvantaged by a low productivity, limited operating ranges of boats, and very irregular outings at sea. But the narrowness of the domestic market is likely to cause drops in the fish prices if the production increases, while the absence of institutional framework may be a handicap at the level of the management (of the programme itself, and/or of some possible conflicts of uses); - to carry out an assessment of the former experiments. It emphasized the insufficiency of the follow-up and the maintenance of the structures, of which the lifespan varied at the most between four and six months, as well as the positive effects of the concentration, and the interest of the fishermen already sensitized with these structures.