CRFM, Belize City, Belize January 30, 2014.    Deputy Executive Director of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat, Susan Singh-Renton, recently attended the Project Preparation Inception Workshop for a project on sustainable management of bycatch in Latin America and Caribbean trawl fisheries (REBYC-II LAC). The Workshop, held during 19-22 January 2014 in Paramaribo, Suriname, brought together fisheries experts representing six countries from the Caribbean and Latin America. The country experts, facilitated by experts from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), discussed plans for the REBYC-II LAC project, which is being proposed for sponsorship by the GEF to the tune of 5.8 million US dollars, with at least 3 times as much co-financing to be provided also by the beneficiary and participating countries and agencies.

REBYC-II LAC arose from the recommendations of an earlier related project, REBYC-I LAC, which was also funded by the GEF and carried out by the FAO during 2002-2008. While the REBYC-I LAC focused more understanding the impacts of trawl gear on the environments in which these gears are used, and also improving fishing technologies to reduce the associated bycatch and adverse habitat impacts, REBYC-II LAC hopes to focus more on the management aspects - that is to say, understanding the nature and usage of bycatch and working towards sustainable management of the bycatch, and the security of the dependent livelihoods.

Key steps in the management process are therefore being targeted in REBYC-II LAC. In particular, the project is expected to develop options to address gaps in policy, legislation, and management planning instruments for supporting sustainable management of the region’s trawl fisheries, while giving due consideration to use of participatory approaches and the FAO’s International Guidelines on Bycatch Management and Reduction of Discards. In addition, there will be continued work on strengthening the technical information base to support management decisions, and analysing livelihood impacts and how to deal with these. The project is also designed to have a clear monitoring and evaluation plan that can satisfy both donor and beneficiary needs, and facilitate sharing of best practices.

CRFM member countries Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago are participating in REBYC-II LAC, which once approved by the GEF, is expected to run for five years. As Suriname hosted the Workshop, there was a wide cross-section of representation from the Surinamese fisheries industry in attendance. CRFM Secretariat’s Deputy Executive Director noted that ‘the project comes at a time when the region is working towards achieving a coordinated multi-level ocean governance arrangement on a Caribbean-wide scale, and so it would be important for the project’s planned activities to complement this ongoing initiative that began with the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem project’.

In helping the project to achieve its goals, the CRFM, in collaboration with 2 other regional fisheries bodies (WECAFC and OSPESCA), has agreed to provide its usual regional coordination support, and to help establish a regional decision support system that can connect, and make fullest use of, the proposed improved national trawl fisheries monitoring systems for better overall regional ocean governance. CRFM will also be involved in technical studies to investigate possible solutions to region-wide problems of piracy/ illegal fishing and livelihood security in respect of these fisheries.

        This document presents the results of an institutional assessment of the Caribbean regional climate and modeling agencies  that are central to the implementation of the investment programme of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR).The agencies that are included in this evaluation of the Programme will be the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), University of West Indies (UWI), Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH). The report assesses the current institutional capacity of these agencies from the perspective of the sub-components and activities that each is expected to implement.

        This document presents the results of an institutional assessment of the Caribbean regional climate and modeling agencies  that are central to the implementation of the investment programme of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR).The agencies that are included in this evaluation of the Programme will be the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), University of West Indies (UWI), Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH). The report assesses the current institutional capacity of these agencies from the perspective of the sub-components and activities that each is expected to implement.

Under a Euro 30 million project funded by the European Union (EU) for projects to improve sustainable and equitable management of fisheries and aquaculture in Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States, fisheries officials from CARIFORUM States are receiving training in the use of modern, cutting-edge, information and communication technology tools in their daily activities. 

“The enhanced use of these modern communication and information sharing tools, such as video-conferencing, social networking, tools for online collaborative document preparation and editing, can result in significant cost savings, increased can result 

in significant cost savings, increased productivity and outputs, as well as boost the earnings and income of fishers, and improve competitiveness and profitability within the fisheries and aquaculture sector,” said Milton Haughton, Executive Director, of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat, at the launch of a three-day regional training on information and knowledge sharing on sustainable fisheries management in the Caribbean.  

Haughton described the regional training workshop, which opened Monday and runs through to Wednesday, as “another significant milestone in our journey to transform the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and enhance its contribution to national economic development.” 

He said that organizers are providing practical training which they hope will improve capacities and lead to greater integration of Information and Communication Technology tools in all areas of the work of fisheries departments and other fisheries organisations in the region. 

“We intend to do a much better job of communicating with each other, informing ourselves, forging a common vision and being more united in what we do, based on wide participation of stakeholders and the public at large,” Haughton added. “This is why the development and implementation of this communication strategy and enhanced use of ICT is so important at this time.”

 The 6^th Meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council held in The Bahamas, June 2012, urged the CRFM Secretariat to strengthen the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to improve the sharing of information and the effectiveness and efficiency in its work.

 PBLH International Consulting SPRL of Brussels, Belgium, is executing the contract to deliver this knowledge sharing project in the Caribbean.

According to Haughton, this week’s training is the 2^nd and final regional fisheries workshop on this subject of information and knowledge sharing and enhanced communication among stakeholders in the fisheries sector.

It builds consensus on the goals and targets for the IT component of the CRFM’s new Communication Strategy which was reviewed and updated this January.

Representatives from the CRFM Secretariat and eleven CARIFORUM states are to participating in the training workshop: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

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Website: http://www.caricom-fisheries.com/

ACP Fish II Programme

ACP FISH II is a demand driven programme financed under the 9^th European Development Fund aiming at strengthening fisheries management in ACP countries. Its overall objective is to contribute to the sustainable and equitable management of fisheries, thus leading to poverty alleviation and improving food security in ACP states. The specific objective is to strengthen fisheries sectoral policy development and implementation in ACP countries.

For further information on the ACP Fish II Programme, please visit: http://www.acpfish2-eu.org.

The ACP Fish II Programme Regional Manager for the Caribbean Region is Sandra Grant (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 011(501) 223 2974)

For More Information

Contact:            

Mr Pablo Lopez-Herrerias - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mrs Justine Schmutz - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mr. Milton Haughton – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism Secretariat (CRFM) in collaboration with its partner organization will convene an Advanced Leadership Training Workshop for Heads of Fisheries Department/Divisions in CARICOM States during the period 8 - 12 April 2013 at the Palm Haven Hotel, Castries, St. Lucia.

This workshop is a collaborative initiative between the Belize based CRFM Secretariat, United Nations University –Fisheries Training Programme (UNU-FTP), and the University of Akuyreri, Iceland (UA); the University of Belize (UB), and the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus (UWI), through a grant awarded to the CRFM by the Island Growth Initiative Fund of Iceland.

5 August 2002  | DOWNLOAD AN ELECTRONIC COPY | 67 kb or preview a copy below.

N.B: Rules of Procedures attached below is still valid regardless of the date stated above.

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The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) was officially inaugurated on 27 March 2003, in Belize City, Belize, where it is headquartered, following the signing of the “Agreement Establishing the CRFM” on February 4, 2002. It is an inter-governmental organization with its mission being to “To promote and facilitate the responsible utilization of the region's fisheries and other aquatic resources for the economic and social benefits of the current and future population of the region”. The CRFM consist of three bodies – the Ministerial Council; the Caribbean Fisheries Forum; and the CRFM Secretariat. Its members are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Ministerial Council

The Ministerial Council is the highest decision making body of the CRFM, and is responsible for formulating the policy of the Mechanism. It is comprised of the Ministers responsible for Fisheries in each Member State. Among other things, the Ministerial Council is responsible for:

• receiving and considering policy proposals from the Forum;

• promoting the efficient management, conservation and development of shared, straddling and highly migratory marine and other aquatic resources of the Caribbean Region through attainment of competence over the resources and through co-operation with the relevant competent organizations;

• promoting and facilitating human resource training and development in the fisheries sub-sector at the professional, technical and vocational levels in Member States;

• promoting and supporting programmes designed to establish, facilitate and strengthen fisheries research, including the acquisition and sharing of relevant data in Member States;

• promoting and encouraging technical co-operation in the fisheries sub-sector, including technology transfer, information exchange and networking among States of the Caribbean Region and beyond;

• supporting efforts aimed at ensuring safe, healthy and fair working and living conditions for fishers and fish workers; and

• submitting annual reports to the Council for Trade and economic Development (COTED) and the council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR).

The Caribbean Fisheries Forum

The Forum is made up of one representative from each Member; each Associate Member and each Observer. The CRFM Secretariat will be the secretariat of the Forum. The Forum, among others, is responsible for:

• recommending for approval by the Ministerial Council, arrangements for sustainable fisheries management and development in Member States based upon the best available technical and scientific data and information;

• reviewing the arrangements recommended by the Technical Unit for sustainable fisheries management and development in Member States;

• promoting the protection and rehabilitation of fisheries habitats and the environment generally;

• encouraging the establishment of effective mechanism for monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries exploitation;

• encouraging the use of post-harvest practices in the fisheries sub-sector that maintain the nutritional value and quality of products;

• recommending for approval by the Ministerial Council, co-operative and other arrangements relating to fisheries; and

• receiving and examining the draft Work Plan and Budget of the Mechanism and submitting recommendations thereon to the Ministerial Council.

The Technical Unit (Secretariat)

The Unit comprises a permanent body of technical, scientific and support staff. The staff is located at two offices: one in Belize, the headquarters of the CRFM; the other in the eastern Caribbean. The Secretariat is responsible for, among other things:

• providing technical, consultative and advisory services to Member States in the development, assessment, management and conservation of marine and other aquatic resources and, on request, in the discharge of any obligations arising from bilateral and other international instruments;

• collaborating with national fisheries authorities;

• collecting and providing relevant data on fisheries resources, including sharing, pooling and information exchange;

• promoting the conduct of trade in fish and fish products according to applicable agreements;

• supporting and enhancing the institutional capacity of Member States in fisheries’ areas such as: policy formulation; economics and planning; registration and licensing systems; information management; resource monitoring, assessment and management; education and awareness building; harvest and post-harvest technologies;

• implementing the Work Programme recommended by the Forum and approved by the Ministerial Council;

• seeking and mobilizing financial and other resources in support of the functions of the Mechanism;

• establishing, in consultation with the Member States, and where appropriate and approved by the Ministerial Council, a network of relationships comprising non-CARICOM States as well as CARICOM and non-CARICOM organizations, bodies and institutions whose work and interest coincide with that of the Mechanism;

• encouraging, supporting and, as appropriate, providing effective regional representation at relevant international fora;

• serving as the Secretariat to the Ministerial Council and the Forum, and as the central coordinating body for the Mechanism; and

• addressing urgent or ad hoc requests outside of the regular work program presented by Member governments.