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BELIZE CITY, 12 December 2015 (CRFM)--Some fear that climate change and global economic pressures will create a toxic mix that would cripple the potential of the Caribbean fisheries and aquaculture sector, but a new initiative being implemented by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) is looking for that “golden key” that would, instead, unlock the industry’s hidden potential for all concerned; thus improving the contribution of fisheries to the region’s economic development. This should ensure that both suppliers and buyers have more money in their pockets, as they keep the resource base on a healthy and sustainable footing.


A newly launched project will over the next year bring together key public and private actors in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, to optimize the benefits across the value chain – from the fishers who set their traps to reap the ocean’s bounty to the buyers who search for the most economical catch to serve up an impressive meal.

Towards this end, the CRFM led a planning meeting in Grenada from 7-9 December 2015 to jumpstart the organization of a regional training and capacity building workshop on the Value Chain Approach in Caribbean Fisheries. The workshop will take place in July 2016.

The initiative is geared towards building capacity among key government and private sector representatives, and in particular small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in fisheries and aquaculture, to use the value chain approach to optimize economic benefits. The value chain approach looks at every operational level in the industry, including production, processing, distribution on the local and export markets, as well as marketing and sales to wholesale agents and retail buyers.


Chief or Senior Fisheries Officers and private sector representatives from the 17 CRFM Member States will have an opportunity to participate in the training, which will be delivered by the CRFM, UNU-FTP, and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago campus.

Personnel from the CRFM, UWI, UNU-FTP, the Caribbean Fisheries Training and Development Institute (CFTDI) in Trinidad and Tobago; the University of Iceland, and the University of Akureyri in Iceland are part of the planning team which is developing the course program and follow-up activities.

Last week, the team began discussions to formulate the course outline and content, identify the status of supply and value chains in the region, and discuss the data available in the region that is necessary to conduct a value chain analysis. The team will also develop representative case studies, as well as training material and a manual for use in the regional training workshop.

The industry-oriented training will be followed by the development of short-term and medium-term action plans for implementation of the value chain in selected pilot studies within CRFM Member States.

BELIZE CITY, 12 December 2015 (CRFM)--Some fear that climate change and global economic pressures will create a toxic mix that would cripple the potential of the Caribbean fisheries and aquaculture sector, but a new initiative being implemented by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) is looking for that “golden key” that would, instead, unlock the industry’s hidden potential for all concerned; thus improving the contribution of fisheries to the region’s economic development. This should ensure that both suppliers and buyers have more money in their pockets, as they keep the resource base on a healthy and sustainable footing.


A newly launched project will over the next year bring together key public and private actors in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, to optimize the benefits across the value chain – from the fishers who set their traps to reap the ocean’s bounty to the buyers who search for the most economical catch to serve up an impressive meal.

Towards this end, the CRFM led a planning meeting in Grenada from 7-9 December 2015 to jumpstart the organization of a regional training and capacity building workshop on the Value Chain Approach in Caribbean Fisheries. The workshop will take place in July 2016.

The initiative is geared towards building capacity among key government and private sector representatives, and in particular small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in fisheries and aquaculture, to use the value chain approach to optimize economic benefits. The value chain approach looks at every operational level in the industry, including production, processing, distribution on the local and export markets, as well as marketing and sales to wholesale agents and retail buyers.


Chief or Senior Fisheries Officers and private sector representatives from the 17 CRFM Member States will have an opportunity to participate in the training, which will be delivered by the CRFM, UNU-FTP, and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago campus.

Personnel from the CRFM, UWI, UNU-FTP, the Caribbean Fisheries Training and Development Institute (CFTDI) in Trinidad and Tobago; the University of Iceland, and the University of Akureyri in Iceland are part of the planning team which is developing the course program and follow-up activities.

Last week, the team began discussions to formulate the course outline and content, identify the status of supply and value chains in the region, and discuss the data available in the region that is necessary to conduct a value chain analysis. The team will also develop representative case studies, as well as training material and a manual for use in the regional training workshop.

The industry-oriented training will be followed by the development of short-term and medium-term action plans for implementation of the value chain in selected pilot studies within CRFM Member States.

 

In an effort to strengthen the capacities of surveillance and control activities in Member States, IICA has collaborated with the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, to offer advanced training on antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in food production animals and food products of animal origin.

This capacity building action on Antimicrobial Use and Antimicrobial Resistance in Agriculture, is an opportunity for early to mid-career public health professionals to participate in a comprehensive two week training course designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to control and monitor the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in food production systems, as well as throughout the food chain from the farm to the consumer.

Opportunity exists for 2 qualified persons working on aquaculture/fisheries SPS from the Caribbean ACP States to participate in the training course.

For more information on the course please download the Course profile here and/or contact the CRFM Secretariat, or the Director of Fisheries/Chief Fisheries Officer or Permanent Secretary Responsible for Fisheries in your country for more information.

This training is made possible through funding under the EU Funded SPS Measures Project.

 

Read the report online HERE or download HERE.

 

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, 25 August 2015, (CRFM) – Industry figures and government officials from across the Caribbean fishing industry Tuesday wrapped up two days of talks here acknowledging they were at the very early stages of introducing a new regime for safe seafood for local and international consumption.

The two-day meeting is part of a European Union-funded project to help CARIFORUM countries introduce laws, regulations and a governance system to guarantee safe seafood for export to EU markets and beyond.

The project, which is being carried out by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) and supported by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), aims to ramp up food safety standards to enable CARIFORUM fish exporters to take up trading opportunities under the EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Milton Haughton

Milton Haughton, Executive Director, Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism

“Developed countries – the EU, United States, Canada … all have standards that you must meet in order to export to their market,” said Milton Haughton, CRFM executive director. “In our countries we may not meet all those standards currently and so we want to put in place the systems which are quite complicated to be able to enter those markets to satisfy their requirements so that our products can be exported.”

The EU is requiring exporting nations put enforceable legislation in place in each country to govern SPS standards. 

“The experts here (were) discussing the regulations, the human resources (and) the institutional arrangements that are required to monitor, evaluate (and) test for various pathogens, and to ensure that we do have a good system in place that meets with international best practice.” Haughton said.

So far, compliance with globally established standards in the region is voluntary – a worrisome development that experts say is stopping member states from tapping into niche markets overseas and boosting foreign exchange earnings.

A two-month long assessment by international consultants has exposed large gaps in legally binding protocols managing food safety throughout the region.

The meeting discussed how to introduce a region-wide set of food safety and environmental safeguards which were presented for review by a team of legal and scientific consultants who moved through the region assessing the state of industry over the last two months.

As they travelled through CARIFORUM group of nations – the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic -a team of consultants from Jamaica, Britain and Iceland inspected processing plants, cold storage facilities and testing laboratories.

The CRFM head expressed the hope that adopting SPS measures region-wide could also have spinoff benefits for local consumers.

“It’s not only about exporting and earning exchange; it’s also ensuring that our people have healthy and safe fish and seafood to eat,” he added. “Given the challenges that we have in this region for economic development, employment and earning foreign exchange, we have to make use of all the resources that we have including ensuring that we can get good prices for our fish and also have safe fish and seafood for our own people.”

Belize, one of the region’s leading fish and seafood exporters, is hoping to learn from other CARIFORUM countries represented at the meeting while offering to sharing information with smaller exporting nations that would help improve food safety standards.

Delilah Cabb Ayala

Delilah Cabb Ayala, SPS Coordinator, Belize Agricultural Health Authority

“For the first time, we’re having a forum where we could start discussing (SPS) issues as a region,” said Delilah Cabb Ayala, SPS Coordinator for the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA). “Each country has been looking at their own legislation, trying to ensure that they make the necessary amendments, just to be able to have access to the EU and the other trading partners with which we are currently trading.”

Last year, Belize exported an estimated 44 million US dollars in shrimp alone from total exports worth 64 million US dollars.

Cabb Ayala said the regional effort to harmonise SPS rules across CARIFORUM will be a “lengthy process” but with nations such as Belize ahead of others, she is hoping that proposals will emerge that "take into account all the different levels that we are dealing with within the region."

She continued: “(This) meeting to ensure that we have harmonised procedures is a good thing. Additionally, it allows for technical experts to bring to the fore their current situations, and at that level try to come up with proposals that can actually be implemented at the national levels."

“We could learn from other countries.  In the discussions, I said I will be sharing some information that we are implementing in Belize. So countries could look at our proposal and if it is for them adaptable, they could readily move with that.”

The two-day meeting posed questions regarding primary and secondary legislation, including coming food safety laws and protocols, processes for appeals, and procedures for licensing, export and controls.

The meeting considered strategic priorities at the national and regional level and began discussions on a governance structure for food safety and fisheries. The officials also considered how to integrate their work into the development of the fledgling Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) based in Suriname and the progress towards the setting up of national health and food safety authorities. 

 

 

Since she was 7 years old, Anna Ramirez, now 63, has been fishing with her family off the coast of Belize’s southernmost district – Toledo, but her gender has not stopped her from working just as hard as the men do while at sea.

Her most challenging moments have involved braving the rough seas, even under the threat of hurricanes, to ensure they make it to shore safely. “It’s not easy. You have to be brave and willing to take chances – big chances too!” she said.

Annas-big-catch

“The same way a man could fish, you can. The same way they drive an engine, you could do it too. The same way they could throw a net, you could throw a net!” Anna says. “It’s the way they raised me,” she later explained.

Mrs. Ramirez has 3 brothers and 7 sisters, and like her brothers—Carlos, Daniel, Eugenio—she took up fishing for a living. She is the daughter of Francisco Castellanos and Petrona Flores, who once lived on several islands off the coast of southern Belize, including Punta Ycacos, Punta Negra and Wilson Caye.

The area where they traditionally fished was declared the Port Honduras Marine Reserve Area in 2000, and today, the family says that the introduction of a managed access program there by the Belize Fisheries Department has notably helped to reduce illegal fishing in the area, thus improving their fish catch. Notably, Mrs. Ramirez was instrumental in the establishment of the reserve.

Port-Honduras-Marine-Reserv

Anna married Rafael Ramirez, who is also a fisher. They have, in turn, taught their children to fish and five of them are still active: Carlos, George, Roy, Armando, who is the chairman of the Rio Grande Fishermen’s Cooperative in Punta Gorda, and Anna, who is the secretary of the Toledo Fisherman Association and the president of the Toledo Dry Fruit women’s group. Genny, who does scuba diving with the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment – TIDE, does so to a lesser extent. Her other daughter, Claudio Olivarez, lives in Corozal in northern Belize and works as a teacher at a Seventh Day Adventist high school in Calcutta Village.

Mrs. Ramirez said that her biggest reward is having been able to train her children, teaching them what she knows. “It is a very good feeling!” she said.

While the elder Anna no longer routinely fishes, most of her 9 children, including her namesake, still do, and she markets their produce at the Punta Gorda Town market in Toledo, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She does not sell at the market on Saturdays, since she has observed the Sabbath for the past 35-40 years.

Anna-at-the-market

She said that her fishing career has made her an independent woman, and she never fails to urge young people to learn the trade so that they too can become independent people.

Although it is rare for a woman to choose a career as a fisher, gender is not the real reason why Anna Ramirez is deemed outstanding. It is her commitment and dedication to hard work, to encouraging the young people to take up the mantle—but moreover, to do so sustainably.

It is for these reasons that she was chosen for special recognition as the winner of the “Punta Fuego Outstanding Fisher of the Year Award,” which was presented on the occasion of the first ever Fisherman’s Day festivities in Belize on Monday, June 29, 2015.

In addition to the Punta Fuego award, she received a cash award from the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), whose Executive Director, Milton Haughton, lauded Mrs. Ramirez, who now stands out as a role model for the entire Caribbean, for her milestone achievement.

Anna-Ramirez-receives-cash-

Punta Fuego, a drama which airs on Love FM, is also the name of a fictional coastal village in Belize, where Richie, a young fisherman, is put to the test when deceit and danger come to his village.

Mrs. Anna Ramirez was nominated for the award by Marla Ramirez of the Fisheries Department, who described her as, “not only a responsible fisher and advocate but a Belizean sustainable fisher.”

“She has always taught her children to take out what is necessary and put back what is small. She is a strong advocate for size limits on finfish especially snappers and grunts,” said Marla Ramirez. “Mrs. Anna has seen fishing change over the past decades and realizes that it is important to manage the fisheries in a sustainable manner.”

Her sons dive for conch and lobster, but the family also catches a lot of finfish using drop lines or hand lines. Anna said that they don’t use nets anymore because of the regulations introduced to govern fishing at the reserve. She has taught her children to leave the small fish to live and catch the bigger ones.

At the age of 34, the younger Anna is still fishing with her brothers and applying the wisdom her mother taught her. She fishes during the day and attends night school at Claver College Extension. She plans to attend the University of Belize afterwards to be qualified as a nurse, although she doesn’t plan to give up fishing.

Her earnings from fishing are helping her to pay for her education. She may earn BZ$50 to BZ$100 a day, depending on what they catch and how much. The mother of 4 says that this is adequate for her to raise her family.

The younger Anna Ramirez started fishing when she was 13 and she did that until she was 22. Her husband, a tour guide, wanted her to be a homemaker and so she quit fishing for 7 years, but today, Anna, who is now single, is back fishing with her brothers off the shores of Toledo, in the area of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve – the family’s traditional fishing grounds.

Her mother, Mrs. Anna Ramirez, said that she has 33 grandchildren, and those who live in the community also go out to sea, particularly during the summer vacation. Joash Ramirez, 13, her daughter Anna’s son, dives and gets a portion of the family’s earnings to help take care of his school expenses, his mother said, demonstrating how the fishing tradition has been passed down to the fourth generation in her family.

While Mrs. Anna Ramirez is hopeful about the prospect of her grandchildren being able to earn a decent living in the industry, she emphasized the need for authorities to crack down on illegal fishing by foreigners who come from the neighboring countries to the south of Belize. She said that this sort of illegal fishing is currently the greatest threat to the industry.

 (The commemoration of Fisherman's Day in Belize was hosted by the Belize Fisheries Department in collaboration with the CRFM, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organizations, and the Nature Conservancy.)

Since she was 7 years old, Anna Ramirez, now 63, has been fishing with her family off the coast of Belize’s southernmost district – Toledo, but her gender has not stopped her from working just as hard as the men do while at sea.

Her most challenging moments have involved braving the rough seas, even under the threat of hurricanes, to ensure they make it to shore safely. “It’s not easy. You have to be brave and willing to take chances – big chances too!” she said.

Annas-big-catch

“The same way a man could fish, you can. The same way they drive an engine, you could do it too. The same way they could throw a net, you could throw a net!” Anna says. “It’s the way they raised me,” she later explained.

Mrs. Ramirez has 3 brothers and 7 sisters, and like her brothers—Carlos, Daniel, Eugenio—she took up fishing for a living. She is the daughter of Francisco Castellanos and Petrona Flores, who once lived on several islands off the coast of southern Belize, including Punta Ycacos, Punta Negra and Wilson Caye.

The area where they traditionally fished was declared the Port Honduras Marine Reserve Area in 2000, and today, the family says that the introduction of a managed access program there by the Belize Fisheries Department has notably helped to reduce illegal fishing in the area, thus improving their fish catch. Notably, Mrs. Ramirez was instrumental in the establishment of the reserve.

Port-Honduras-Marine-Reserv

Anna married Rafael Ramirez, who is also a fisher. They have, in turn, taught their children to fish and five of them are still active: Carlos, George, Roy, Armando, who is the chairman of the Rio Grande Fishermen’s Cooperative in Punta Gorda, and Anna, who is the secretary of the Toledo Fisherman Association and the president of the Toledo Dry Fruit women’s group. Genny, who does scuba diving with the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment – TIDE, does so to a lesser extent. Her other daughter, Claudio Olivarez, lives in Corozal in northern Belize and works as a teacher at a Seventh Day Adventist high school in Calcutta Village.

Mrs. Ramirez said that her biggest reward is having been able to train her children, teaching them what she knows. “It is a very good feeling!” she said.

While the elder Anna no longer routinely fishes, most of her 9 children, including her namesake, still do, and she markets their produce at the Punta Gorda Town market in Toledo, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She does not sell at the market on Saturdays, since she has observed the Sabbath for the past 35-40 years.

Anna-at-the-market

She said that her fishing career has made her an independent woman, and she never fails to urge young people to learn the trade so that they too can become independent people.

Although it is rare for a woman to choose a career as a fisher, gender is not the real reason why Anna Ramirez is deemed outstanding. It is her commitment and dedication to hard work, to encouraging the young people to take up the mantle—but moreover, to do so sustainably.

It is for these reasons that she was chosen for special recognition as the winner of the “Punta Fuego Outstanding Fisher of the Year Award,” which was presented on the occasion of the first ever Fisherman’s Day festivities in Belize on Monday, June 29, 2015.

In addition to the Punta Fuego award, she received a cash award from the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), whose Executive Director, Milton Haughton, lauded Mrs. Ramirez, who now stands out as a role model for the entire Caribbean, for her milestone achievement.

Anna-Ramirez-receives-cash-

Punta Fuego, a drama which airs on Love FM, is also the name of a fictional coastal village in Belize, where Richie, a young fisherman, is put to the test when deceit and danger come to his village.

Mrs. Anna Ramirez was nominated for the award by Marla Ramirez of the Fisheries Department, who described her as, “not only a responsible fisher and advocate but a Belizean sustainable fisher.”

“She has always taught her children to take out what is necessary and put back what is small. She is a strong advocate for size limits on finfish especially snappers and grunts,” said Marla Ramirez. “Mrs. Anna has seen fishing change over the past decades and realizes that it is important to manage the fisheries in a sustainable manner.”

Her sons dive for conch and lobster, but the family also catches a lot of finfish using drop lines or hand lines. Anna said that they don’t use nets anymore because of the regulations introduced to govern fishing at the reserve. She has taught her children to leave the small fish to live and catch the bigger ones.

At the age of 34, the younger Anna is still fishing with her brothers and applying the wisdom her mother taught her. She fishes during the day and attends night school at Claver College Extension. She plans to attend the University of Belize afterwards to be qualified as a nurse, although she doesn’t plan to give up fishing.

[INSERT VIDEO]

Her earnings from fishing are helping her to pay for her education. She may earn BZ$50 to BZ$100 a day, depending on what they catch and how much. The mother of 4 says that this is adequate for her to raise her family.

The younger Anna Ramirez started fishing when she was 13 and she did that until she was 22. Her husband, a tour guide, wanted her to be a homemaker and so she quit fishing for 7 years, but today, Anna, who is now single, is back fishing with her brothers off the shores of Toledo, in the area of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve – the family’s traditional fishing grounds.

Her mother, Mrs. Anna Ramirez, said that she has 33 grandchildren, and those who live in the community also go out to sea, particularly during the summer vacation. Joash Ramirez, 13, her daughter Anna’s son, dives and gets a portion of the family’s earnings to help take care of his school expenses, his mother said, demonstrating how the fishing tradition has been passed down to the fourth generation in her family.

While Mrs. Anna Ramirez is hopeful about the prospect of her grandchildren being able to earn a decent living in the industry, she emphasized the need for authorities to crack down on illegal fishing by foreigners who come from the neighboring countries to the south of Belize. She said that this sort of illegal fishing is currently the greatest threat to the industry.

Since she was 7 years old, Anna Ramirez, now 63, has been fishing with her family off the coast of Belize’s southernmost district – Toledo, but her gender has not stopped her from working just as hard as the men do while at sea.

Her most challenging moments have involved braving the rough seas, even under the threat of hurricanes, to ensure they make it to shore safely. “It’s not easy. You have to be brave and willing to take chances – big chances too!” she said.

Annas-big-catch

“The same way a man could fish, you can. The same way they drive an engine, you could do it too. The same way they could throw a net, you could throw a net!” Anna says. “It’s the way they raised me,” she later explained.

Mrs. Ramirez has 3 brothers and 7 sisters, and like her brothers—Carlos, Daniel, Eugenio—she took up fishing for a living. She is the daughter of Francisco Castellanos and Petrona Flores, who once lived on several islands off the coast of southern Belize, including Punta Ycacos, Punta Negra and Wilson Caye.

The area where they traditionally fished was declared the Port Honduras Marine Reserve Area in 2000, and today, the family says that the introduction of a managed access program there by the Belize Fisheries Department has notably helped to reduce illegal fishing in the area, thus improving their fish catch. Notably, Mrs. Ramirez was instrumental in the establishment of the reserve.

Port-Honduras-Marine-Reserv

Anna married Rafael Ramirez, who is also a fisher. They have, in turn, taught their children to fish and five of them are still active: Carlos, George, Roy, Armando, who is the chairman of the Rio Grande Fishermen’s Cooperative in Punta Gorda, and Anna, who is the secretary of the Toledo Fisherman Association and the president of the Toledo Dry Fruit women’s group. Genny, who does scuba diving with the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment – TIDE, does so to a lesser extent. Her other daughter, Claudio Olivarez, lives in Corozal in northern Belize and works as a teacher at a Seventh Day Adventist high school in Calcutta Village.

Mrs. Ramirez said that her biggest reward is having been able to train her children, teaching them what she knows. “It is a very good feeling!” she said.

While the elder Anna no longer routinely fishes, most of her 9 children, including her namesake, still do, and she markets their produce at the Punta Gorda Town market in Toledo, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She does not sell at the market on Saturdays, since she has observed the Sabbath for the past 35-40 years.

Anna-at-the-market

She said that her fishing career has made her an independent woman, and she never fails to urge young people to learn the trade so that they too can become independent people.

Although it is rare for a woman to choose a career as a fisher, gender is not the real reason why Anna Ramirez is deemed outstanding. It is her commitment and dedication to hard work, to encouraging the young people to take up the mantle—but moreover, to do so sustainably.

It is for these reasons that she was chosen for special recognition as the winner of the “Punta Fuego Outstanding Fisher of the Year Award,” which was presented on the occasion of the first ever Fisherman’s Day festivities in Belize on Monday, June 29, 2015.

In addition to the Punta Fuego award, she received a cash award from the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), whose Executive Director, Milton Haughton, lauded Mrs. Ramirez, who now stands out as a role model for the entire Caribbean, for her milestone achievement.

Anna-Ramirez-receives-cash-

Punta Fuego, a drama which airs on Love FM, is also the name of a fictional coastal village in Belize, where Richie, a young fisherman, is put to the test when deceit and danger come to his village.

Mrs. Anna Ramirez was nominated for the award by Marla Ramirez of the Fisheries Department, who described her as, “not only a responsible fisher and advocate but a Belizean sustainable fisher.”

“She has always taught her children to take out what is necessary and put back what is small. She is a strong advocate for size limits on finfish especially snappers and grunts,” said Marla Ramirez. “Mrs. Anna has seen fishing change over the past decades and realizes that it is important to manage the fisheries in a sustainable manner.”

Her sons dive for conch and lobster, but the family also catches a lot of finfish using drop lines or hand lines. Anna said that they don’t use nets anymore because of the regulations introduced to govern fishing at the reserve. She has taught her children to leave the small fish to live and catch the bigger ones.

At the age of 34, the younger Anna is still fishing with her brothers and applying the wisdom her mother taught her. She fishes during the day and attends night school at Claver College Extension. She plans to attend the University of Belize afterwards to be qualified as a nurse, although she doesn’t plan to give up fishing.

[INSERT VIDEO]

Her earnings from fishing are helping her to pay for her education. She may earn BZ$50 to BZ$100 a day, depending on what they catch and how much. The mother of 4 says that this is adequate for her to raise her family.

The younger Anna Ramirez started fishing when she was 13 and she did that until she was 22. Her husband, a tour guide, wanted her to be a homemaker and so she quit fishing for 7 years, but today, Anna, who is now single, is back fishing with her brothers off the shores of Toledo, in the area of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve – the family’s traditional fishing grounds.

Her mother, Mrs. Anna Ramirez, said that she has 33 grandchildren, and those who live in the community also go out to sea, particularly during the summer vacation. Joash Ramirez, 13, her daughter Anna’s son, dives and gets a portion of the family’s earnings to help take care of his school expenses, his mother said, demonstrating how the fishing tradition has been passed down to the fourth generation in her family.

While Mrs. Anna Ramirez is hopeful about the prospect of her grandchildren being able to earn a decent living in the industry, she emphasized the need for authorities to crack down on illegal fishing by foreigners who come from the neighboring countries to the south of Belize. She said that this sort of illegal fishing is currently the greatest threat to the industry.

Thursday, 25 June 2015 22:59

First Fisherman’s Day in Belize

 

Belize City, Belize 24 June 2015 (CRFM)--For the first time in Belize, local and regional fisheries sector organizations have gotten together with the Belize Fisheries Department and fishers to host a series of events to commemorate Fisherman’s Day and to acknowledge Belizean fishers for their economic, social and cultural contributions to the nation.

Throughout the Wider Caribbean region, June 29 is recognized as Caribbean Fisherfolk Day, coinciding with the annual observance of International Fisherman’s Day by many nations and organizations concerned with fisheries. The day is being marked this year in the Caribbean under the theme: “The Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy: breaking the cycle of poverty in fishing communities.” With support from the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), a series of events have been planned to mark the observance in Belize next week.

On Sunday, 28 June, a church service will be held at 10:00 a.m. at the Central Assembly of God. Blessing of the Boats will take place at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, 29 June at the Commercial Center in Belize City. At 9:00 a.m. that same day, an official ceremony to mark Caribbean Fisherfolk Day and to present the Punta Fuego Outstanding Fisher Award will take place at the Coastal Zone Training Room, at the Fisheries Department compound on Princess Margaret Drive in Belize City. On the occasion, various organizations are expected to make presentations of tokens of appreciation to fishers at various landing sites and cooperatives around Belize City.

Fisherfolk organizations have been encouraged to also host events in coastal communities around Belize, in keeping with this year’s theme, as we celebrate the hardworking men and women of Belize’s fisheries sector who are at the heart of the recently adopted Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP).

The CCCFP is a roadmap which Caribbean countries believe can help them enhance the income, status and capacities of fisherfolk; thus, enabling them to sustainably provide for themselves and their family members. By stimulating fisheries production, the Common Fisheries Policy can contribute to social protection in fishing communities, which would improve income stability and the ability to manage risk, thus contributing to reducing poverty and food insecurity in the long-term. Social protection exists where governments develop policies and programmes to address economic, environmental and social vulnerabilities to food insecurity and poverty.

Fisherman’s Day 2015 is an occasion to focus the region’s attention on the crucial role that the CCCFP can play in eradicating hunger and poverty.

 

 

Belize City, Belize, 24 June 24, 2015 (CRFM)--A national consultation will be held at the George Price Centre in Belmopan on Wednesday, 1 July 2015, to examine the current status of environmental monitoring programmes and activities which are being used to ensure quality control in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, in order to increase the safety of both local and imported food supplies.

The consultation comes at the culmination of a series of meetings convened by a team of consultants with the private sector, government ministries and departments, and BAHA, the competent authority responsible for food safety and official laboratory responsible for monitoring environmental quality.

At the national consultation, participants, including private and public sector stakeholders, will review and discuss the performance of existing national programmes; international environmental monitoring requirements; design, implementation, and audit of routine environmental monitoring programme; details of both field and supporting laboratory programmes; and examples of best practices.

National monitoring programmes consider all levels of the food system, such as field investigation, processing facilities, inspection and port entry checks, and an effective laboratory system.

Support for this initiative is provided by the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures programme, a component of the 10th EDF Programme titled, Support to the Caribbean Forum of ACP States in the Implementation of Commitments Undertaken Under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS).

It is being executed by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in collaboration with the CARICOM and CRFM Secretariats and the SPS Committee of the Dominican Republic. The fisheries component of the Project is being implemented by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM).

The project aims to facilitate CARIFORUM States to gain and improve market access by complying with Europe’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and to help them to better develop their own regionally harmonized SPS measures and institutional capability, so that they can meet the requirements necessary to maintain and expand on the trade of fish and fish products locally, regionally and internationally.

 

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