CFRM states explore Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) as cost-cutting emergent technology

Belize City, Belize, Thursday, December 5, 2013—For several years, the Caribbean region has been exploring the use of an emergent technology for increasing catch of deep sea fishes such as tunas at a much lower cost. This technology, dubbed Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD), has already been deployed with limited use in some Caribbean countries, and fisheries authorities are now looking at prospects of their wider use in the region, but conservation and proper management are at the heart of any prospect of success.

In order for the Caribbean to derive tangible benefits from the use of FAD, the devices must be properly managed and regulated. The harm that can be done by the unplanned use of the device, and by poor management and regulation, could result in major losses of not just fishery investments—but also of the fishery resources upon which the region depends for employment, food security and nutrition.

The CRFM-JICA CARIFICO / WECAFC-IFREMER MAGDELESA Workshop on FAD Fishery Management, to be held next week, will provide a forum for participating countries and agencies to review and share research results and best practices in the construction, use and management of FADs as tools for sustainable development, management and conservation of large pelagic resources in the Caribbean.

The workshop will be held from Monday, December 9 to Wednesday, December 11, 2013, at the Methodist Church Hall, in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AGENDA)

At the event, the participating countries and institutions will provide status reports on FAD fisheries, the target fish resources and their management. Fish often caught with FAD include the blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), and the blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus).

National Fisheries Authorities from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago will be represented.

Additionally, senior representatives from key regional and international fisheries related organizations and initiatives involved in FAD fisheries management activities such as Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Caribbean Network of Fisheries Organization (CNFO), Japan International Cooperation Agency, The French Institute for Ocean Research (IFREMER), UN-Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/WECAFC; UWI, and University of Florida, will attend the Workshop.

Future work plans and action plans for the countries directly involved in the implementation of field activities under the CARIFICO Project will be discussed at the upcoming meeting.

Finally, research findings and recommendations from the French-funded (IFREMER) MAGDELESA project will be presented and recommendations made to FAO-WECAFC and CRFM on the further use and management of FAD in the Caribbean. The workshop will feature presentations from CRFM member countries; key experts representing CRFM, IFREMER, JICA, and FAO/WECAFC. In 2011 and 2012 the MAGDELESA project successfully deployed FADs in Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, and St. Vincent. (See links to projects on the Downloadable Resources page, at the end of this release.)

In March 2013, the CRFM and JICA jointly organized the FAD Fishery Management Workshop as a follow-up to the CRFM-JICA Master Plan FAD pilot activities, at which best practices in the construction, use and management of FADs were discussed.
Subsequently, the Caribbean Fisheries Co-management Project (CARIFICO)—a joint collaboration between the CRFM member countries and JICA—was initiated on May 1, 2013 and it will run for approximately 5 years.

More below…

In Antigua and Barbuda, new fisheries regulations have been enacted in 2013 and this makes provisions for the deployment of FAD’s with permission from the Chief Fisheries Officer. The registration and licensing of vessels and fishers as well as the display of identification marks and numbers on vessels are all tied to the conditions for FAD fishing.

BACKGROUND

In response to the request from the CRFM member countries, the Government of Japan through JICA implemented a technical cooperation project on “Formulation of Master Plan on Sustainable Use of Fisheries Resources for Coastal Community Development in the Caribbean” from 2009 to 2012.

Baseline surveys were conducted in 13 target countries from May to December 2009 to understand the current situation and issues that the fisheries sector faces. Based on the analysis of the data and information collected during the baseline surveys, a preliminary master plan was produced and potential pilot projects were identified in February 2010.  Fishing Aggregating Device (FAD) Pilot projects were implemented in Dominica and St. Lucia during 2010/2011, aquaculture Pilot activities in Jamaica and Belize, and Fishery Statistical pilot projects were implemented in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Guyana.

The FAD Pilot Project implemented during the development of the Master Plan confirmed that diversification of coastal fishery using FADs has great potential and can be used as a tool to involve fishers and their organizations in the sustainable use of large pelagic fishery resources. However, unregulated and excessive number of FADs may cause overexploitation of large pelagic fishes which could reduce the economic advantage of having such devices.

Since fisheries policy and resource management plans and budget structures are not properly developed and in place at the national level and no joint regional management systems are in place for the coastal pelagic and other shared resources, there is some concern that these resources could become overexploited. To address this issue, a multinational master plan for fisheries resource management and development is needed.

The Final Report of the Master Plan proposed (1) to establish practical co-management models for sustainable use and management of the fisheries resources, (2) to promote participatory resource management and development toward co-management, and (3) to formulate and strengthen the regional network by sharing the local expertise and lessons learned in each country.

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

FAD PHOTOS:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/106585470@N03/sets/72157638305927613

FAD VIDEOS

http://youtu.be/BFr2LW8MI0E

http://youtu.be/eZo38PUTRis

FAD Deployment in the Caribbean:

St. Vincent: http://en.magdelesa.eu/Zoom-Illustrations/Deployment-of-FADs-in-St-Vincent-and-the-Grenadines

Dominica: http://en.magdelesa.eu/Zoom-Illustrations/Deployment-of-FADs-in-Dominica

St. Kitts/Nevis: http://en.magdelesa.eu/Zoom-Illustrations/Deployment-of-FADs-in-St-Kitts-and-Nevis

Grenada: http://en.magdelesa.eu/Zoom-Illustrations/Deployment-of-two-FADs-Magdelesa-in-Grenada

FAD REPORT

RAP PUBLICATION 2012/20

Anchored fish aggregating devices for artisanal fisheries in Southeast Asia: Benefits and risks

Download Full Report  1.80 Mb

http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i3087e/i3087e00.htm

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2013--The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), has made a formal request on behalf of the Caribbean Community to the United States-CARICOM Council on Trade and Investment, to reject the petition of WildEarth Guardians, an environmental NGO based in Denver, Colorado, USA, calling on US authorities to list the Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) as a “threatened” or “endangered” species under the USA Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Speaking at a meeting of the Council held in Washington, D.C., on Friday, November 15, CRFM Executive Director, Milton Haughton said: “We oppose the petition to list the Queen Conch as an endangered or threatened species on the ground that the petitioner’s information is unreliable and obsolete.”

The Queen Conch is a high-value species, in high demand on the international market. Haughton noted that such a listing could restrict or prohibit Caribbean imports of Queen Conch to the US.

At the meeting of the US-CARICOM Council on Trade and Investment, senior officials discussed, among other things, the removal of barriers to bilateral trade as important work to be done under the recently inaugurated US-CARICOM Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

“If Queen Conch is listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA, conch exports from the CARICOM States to the United States market would be prohibited,” Haughton noted. “This would result in significant social and economic hardship for thousands of Caribbean fishermen, fish processors/exporters and their families, and fishing communities, and undermine peace and stability in coastal communities that rely on the Queen Conch resource, because it will effectively deprive them of their source of income and livelihoods.”

Most of the information presented in the WildEarth Guardians petition in respect of CRFM States is outdated and simply incorrect, the CRFM Executive Director added.

WildEarth Guardians recently threatened suit against US authorities, after it claimed a number of deadlines for action on the petition were missed. The NGO filed the petition in March 2012, and the 12-month finding, was due in March of 2013. A decision on the petition is still pending.

The CRFM Secretariat has consulted with its Member States, and in October 2012, it submitted a response to the US Department of Commerce, rebutting the WildEarth Guardians Petition and asking the US Government to reject the petition.

Meanwhile, WildEarth has filed a legal challenge against the US National Marine Fisheries Service, over the delayed petition decision.

The Queen Conch petition states that the species is declining and threatened with extinction due to habitat degradation, specifically, water pollution and destruction of sea grass nursery habitat; overutilization resulting from commercial harvest, inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms, and other natural and manmade factors such as biological vulnerability, human population growth, and other synergistic effects.

Haughton told the US-CARICOM Council on Trade and Investment, though, that the CRFM states disagree with the claim that Queen Conch is being harvested at unsustainable levels, resulting in population declines, stock collapses, as well as recruitment and reproductive failure.

Haughton acknowledged that, “Concerns about the health and long-term survival of Queen Conch and accompanying evidence of population declines in some countries led to the inclusion of Queen Conch on Appendix II of the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1992.”

He explained that the Appendix II listing is used for species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but may become so unless international trade in the species is regulated, to avoid utilization incompatible with the survival of the species.

“Since 1992, CITES has been monitoring and regulating international trade and by extension, management, protection and conservation of Queen Conch to ensure sustainable trade and sustainable use more generally,” Haughton said.

According to the CRFM, “the petitioner made no effort to obtain current, readily available information regarding the conservation status and management systems for the Queen Conch fisheries in the 17 CARICOM / CRFM Member States before submitting its petition.”

Haughton said that the listing would be “unreasonable, disproportionate, unfair, inequitable, and inappropriate” in addressing the issues in question. It is an unnecessary and unreasonable barrier to trade in the species, he stated.

The petition should be rejected, as the available evidence does not support the claim that the Queen Conch is a threatened or endangered species, in the context of the Endangered Species Act, Haughton told the US-CARICOM Council on Trade and Investment.

GUYANA, 24 October 2013--The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) expresses concern over the future of the region’s seafood reserves saying that climate change has a rippling effect on the fisheries sector.

Climate change will affect not only the fish and their habitats, but also industry performance and all the human social and economic benefits derived from this, according to the CRFM’s Deputy Director, Dr Susan Singh-Renton. She said, “The direct, more immediate impacts that we can expect to see are deterioration in the quality of the marine habitats and accompanying declines in local marine resources through effects on their production and availability.”

Dr Singh-Renton outlined that there will be ripple-on impacts for industry livelihoods and the contribution of fresh fish in meeting the region’s food and nutrition security demands. She added, “The tourism industry will also take a big hit, as the typical Caribbean vacation will offer poorer sand and sea recreational activities .”

“Caribbean marine life is being threatened throughout the range of supporting habitats. Sea grass beds, mangrove swamps, coral reefs and the open ocean will face changed conditions, affecting sea life in both nursery grounds and adult living areas,” according to Dr Singh-Renton.

The coral reefs are being affected by ocean acidification, increased sea temperatures that are known to cause coral bleaching, excessive sedimentation from land-based sources usually through flooding. Dr Singh-Renton emphasized that the region’s coral reefs are described as among “the ‘richest ecosystems on earth’, and should be carefully monitored and conserved.”

Other factors which have the potential to affect Caribbean fisheries include changes to ocean current patterns (which influence the migration patterns of larger fish) and riverine inputs, which provide much needed nutrients to local fish stocks. Dr. Singh-Renton noted that riverine inputs of nutrients are also at risk from climate change, which can alter the flow and volume of riverine material in coastal waters.

Dr Singh-Renton was speaking at a forum on “Inclusive Evidence Based Coverage of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Caribbean” at the 12th Caribbean Week of Agriculture which took place in Guyana in October 2013.

Nassau, Bahamas; Wednesday, October 23, 2013--Fisheries administrations from countries across the Caribbean are being hosted in The Bahamas this week, as a part of a series of discussions which will culminate with a multi-stakeholder dialogue on Friday, to chart future support for the region's initiatives to alleviate poverty while ensuring the sustainable management and development of shared fisheries resources.

As a part of the week's activities, the 6th Steering Committee Meeting of the ACP Fish II Programme will be convened under the auspices of CARICOM (the Caribbean Community) at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 24, 2013 at the Beach Tower Hotel, Atlantis, Paradise Island, New Providence.
The choice of The Bahamas to hold this meeting will allow for greater ownership by all permanent members of the Steering, and to decentralize the decision-making process of the programme.

Representatives of the CARICOM Secretariat, the ACP Fish II Programme, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), the Bahamas Fisheries Administration, the European Commission, and the ACP Group of States Secretariat will speak at the opening of Thursday's Steering Committee meeting.

Caribbean countries have benefited from close to €3 million in program funding since the ACP Fish II Programme began in June 2009. To date, 18 of 32 regional, fisheries and aquaculture projects are completed. The remaining 14 projects are at various levels of development or close to being completed.

The ACP Fish II Programme has provided technical assistance, training and facilitation of workshops or meetings to beneficiary countries.

This 6th Steering Committee meeting has a special meaning for the Programme, since it will provide an opportunity for regional and extra-regional partners to conduct an overall evaluation of the performance of ACP Fish II, and analyze results and outputs achieved to date. More specifically, regional fisheries experts will assess the execution and implementation of the projects which target Caribbean States and Regional Fisheries Bodies, and they will furthermore reflect on the lessons learned throughout the Programme execution.

The ACP Fish II Steering Committee provides direction and validates the overall policy and program. Eight regional economic organizations (REOs) are the permanent members which constitute the Steering Committee: CARICOM,the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the Economic Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).

“Future support to fisheries sector in the ACP Group” will be the subject of a round table discussion which will be convened at the Atlantis in Nassau on Friday, October 25. At this event, Programme officials will meet with the permanent members of the Steering Committee and local stakeholders to discuss the current situation facing fisheries in the programme regions and to discuss how the ACP Secretariat is positioned to support countries and regions to address priority areas requiring assistance.

Speakers at the round table will include Nisa Surujbally of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat; Milton Haughton of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM); Gustavo Miranda - ACP Fish II Programme Coordinator; Michel Batty of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA); Vivian Iwar of The Economic Community Of West African States / Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (ECOWAS/CEDEAO in French); Maria Louisa Ferreira of Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine (UEMOA); Hélène Massan Fiagan and Achilles Bassilekin of the ACP Secretariat; and Aurélien Mofouma of the Communauté Economique des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (CEEAC).

The Steering Committee meeting and Round Table follow the Fourth and Final ACP Fish II Programme Regional Monitoring Workshop, held since Monday at the same venue to conduct detailed appraisals of past and pending projects.

The ACP Fish II Programme, which is financed by the European Development Fund on behalf of ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of states) countries, endeavours to improve fisheries management in ACP countries to ensure sustainable exploitation of the fisheries resources under the jurisdiction of member countries. The four-and-one-half-year programme concludes next month.

Click HERE for more information.

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For more information, please contact:

Dr. Sandra Grant

Regional Manager for the Caribbean

ACP FISH II Programme

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Nassau, Bahamas; Friday, 18 October 2013—Since the inception of the ACP Fish II Programme in June 2009, Caribbean countries have benefited from close to €3 million allocated for 32 national and regional, fisheries and aquaculture projects. To date, 18 of these projects are completed, while the remaining 14 projects are at various levels of development or close to being completed.

Starting next Monday, October 21, a team of regional officials, including eighteen (18) participating Fisheries Administrations and Organisations in the Caribbean, will meet in the Bahamas for a week of events that will review the progress of the programme and chart a future course that will build on the successes to date.

The first of the three events will be the Fourth and Final ACP Fish II Programme Regional Monitoring Workshop, to be held at the Beach Tower Hotel Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas, from Monday, October 21 to Wednesday, October 23.

At this workshop, the Caribbean projects implemented under ACP Fish II will be reviewed. There will also be an assessment of the outcomes and impacts of the implemented projects, after which a discussion on the way forward will ensue.

This workshop will be followed by the Sixth Meeting of the Steering Committee of the ACP Fish II Programme, to be held at the same venue on Thursday, October 24. The Steering Committee will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the programme’s performance, as well as achieved outputs. Furthermore, projects targeting the Caribbean States and Regional Fisheries Bodies will be reviewed and lessons learned will be discussed.

The week of activities culminates on Friday, October 25 with a roundtable discussion to be hosted by the CARICOM Secretariat. During the Roundtable event, the Permanent Members of the Steering Committee and other local stakeholders will deliberate on the current situation facing fisheries in the programme regions and propose how the ACP Secretariat can provide support to address priority areas requiring assistance.

The ACP Fish II Programme draws to a close in November, after 4.5 years of operational activities. It encompasses over 180 projects under the five components of the Programme, covering fisheries policy formulation and management planning, enforcement, research, business support and private sector investment, and knowledge sharing on management and trade.

Please note that participants in the first workshop will be the Programme Focal Points from the eighteen participating Fisheries Administrations in countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica ,  Cuba,  The Dominican Republic , Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines , Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Regional Fisheries Bodies such as the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM); the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), as well as representatives from producer associations, and network agencies (such as the Regional Beach Management Unit Network) will attend the event.

Representatives from other related development agencies in Uganda have been invited to join the Focal Points during the presentations of the Working Group findings on lessons learned in programme implementation, and priority areas for future support to fisheries and aquaculture in the Region, on the third day of the Workshop.

The Workshop is jointly organised by the Regional Facilitation Unit for Caribbean (RFU-CAR) and Italtrend. It is coordinated by ACP Fish II staff: the Regional Manager for the Caribbean in Belize, Dr. Sandra Grant; the Fisheries Policy Expert at the Programme Coordination Unit (CU) in Brussels, Belgium, Mr. John Purvis; and the Programme Manager at the CU, Ms. Catherine Nguema Adjowa.

We will provide further updates on the ACP Fish II meetings as developments progress next week.

Click HERE for more information.

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For more information, please contact:

Dr. Sandra Grant

Regional Manager for the Caribbean

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Georgetown, Guyana, October 15, 2013--The 4^th Special Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) was held at the CARICOM Secretariat in Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana, on Thursday, October 10, 2013.

At the meeting, chaired by St. Lucia’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Production, Hon. Moses Jn. Baptiste, the CRFM Ministerial Council underscored the important role of fisheries and aquaculture in the CARICOM Region and its contribution to food and nutrition security, employment, and the economic and social well-being of the people of the region.

The Council recalled that the Fourteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government held more than 10 years ago in Trinidad and Tobago issued a call for the preparation of a common fisheries policy and regime for the region.

Consequently, the Draft Agreement establishing the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP) was formulated and then unanimously endorsed by the 4^th Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the CRFM on 20 May 2011, supported by the 38^th Special Meeting of the COTED held on 14 October 2011.

Later, the 7^th Meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council called on all Member States and the CARICOM Secretariat to make every effort to ensure that the Draft Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy is opened for signature by the Conference of Heads of Government at their next meeting.

The Ministerial Council now reiterates its support for the CCCFP and calls on Member States to ensure that their internal consultations are expedited to facilitate this approval.

The Council also discussed a request from the International Tribunal on Law of the Sea for a statement from the CRFM on Case 21, dealing with the issue of IUU fishing, submitted by the Sub-regional Fisheries Commission, Africa.

The case was lodged to look into issues such as the obligations of the flag State in cases where IUU fishing is perpetrated within the Exclusive Economic Zone of third party States, and the extent of the flag State's liability.

The ministers view this request as indicative of the high regard with which the international community holds the CRFM and its work.

According to the Council, this provides the region with an opportunity to influence international jurisprudence on the question of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing.

In this regard, the CRFM Secretariat had secured the services of Professor Pieter Bekker, Chair of International Law, Dundee University, UK, and a partner in the international law firm, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, to assist with the preparation of the brief on behalf of the CRFM on a pro bono basis.

The Ministerial Council also underlined how important it is for CFRM Member States to participate in the negotiations on the Smallscale Fisheries (SSF) Guidelines, being formulated through the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), when the workshop resumes in February 2014.

Georgetown, Guyana, 10 October 2013--During the 12^th Caribbean Week of Agriculture held in Guyana, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which provides an overall framework for cooperation between the two organizations on projects and other activities for the ultimate benefit of fisheries development in CARICOM/CARIFORUM countries.

The MoU was signed by Mr Milton Haughton, Executive Director of CRFM and Mr Michael Hailu, CTA Director. Based on the mandates and comparative advantages of the two institutions the MoU covers cooperation areas related to: development and implementation of policies and strategies in fisheries aquaculture and related sector; climate change adaptation and disaster risk management; strategies for mainstreaming precautionary and ecosystem approaches in fisheries and aquaculture management; review, adoption and implementation of the International Guidelines in Securing Small-Scale Fisheries; development of fisheries value chains, including intra-regional trading in fish and fish products; combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Other areas include maximizing the potential of ICTs for information and knowledge management, capacity building as well as facilitation of joint learning and strengthening inter-regional cooperation between the Caribbean States and the ACP regions.

CTA and CRFM agree to work with third party organizations, including government agencies of member countries of both organisations, in addition to private entities so as to improve adoption and use of research findings, resources mobilization, access to sources of relevant information and knowledge, and outreach and impact The signing took place in the presence of ministerial and technical officials from CARIFORUM countries, as well as, the executives of key agricultural institutions who are attending the 12^th CWA.

St. George’s, Grenada – October 11, 2013 / 

Caribbean countries have recognized the need to enhance the effectiveness of fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance, in order to combat Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing – one of the greatest threats to fisheries in the region.

With this need in mind, the Secretariat of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) is working in collaboration with the ACP Fish II Programme, funded by the EU, and the consulting firm – AGRER Grupo Typsa of Brussels, Belgium, to host a regional validation workshop as part of an initiative to provide technical support to produce new prosecution and enforcement manuals for CARIFORUM States.

The event starts with an opening ceremony at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 16, at The Flamboyant Hotel and Villas in St. George’s, Grenada, and runs through to Thursday, October 17.

Grenada’s Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment – Hon. Roland Bhola is scheduled to deliver the feature address at the opening ceremony. Dr. Milton Haughton, Executive Director of the CRFM Secretariat; and Mr. Cajeton Hood, Attorney General, Ministry of Legal Affairs are slated to address the gathering.

Over the course of the two-day workshop which will follow, regional fisheries experts and law enforcement personnel from 15 CARIFORUM States will work towards finalizing two enforcement manuals which address the use of new technology in fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) while expanding on manuals already in use in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Those manuals are the OECS Fisheries Prosecution Manual and the OECS Standard Operating Procedure Manual for fisheries surveillance and enforcement, adopted in 1997 for the 9 OECS countries, including the host country – Grenada.

ACP Fish II - CARIFORUM - Enforcement - Video from belizeuser on Vimeo.

The upcoming regional validation workshop is expected to have over 35 participants, including two delegates from each member state – among them key national enforcement training agencies such as police training schools, maritime institutions and regional/international organizations: the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organization, the Regional Security System, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and CARICOM IMPACS -  Implementation Agency for Crime and Security.

The workshop facilitators are Dr. Winston McCalla of Jamaica and Ambassador Daven Joseph of Antigua and Barbuda, who have been visiting the CARIFORUM States and meeting with Fisheries, Coast Guard, Customs, Police and other relevant authorities to gather input for the draft manuals.

At the workshop, drafts of the Prosecution and Enforcement Manuals will be presented to regional fisheries experts and enforcement personnel for refinement, and final drafts should be ready for adoption within two weeks. The manuals will furthermore be translated into Spanish, French and Dutch, for wide circulation across CARIFORUM States.

The Grenada workshop will also provide a forum for participants to map out their logistical, resource and training needs, to ensure that they will be better equipped to help curb IUU fishing.

Finally, the workshop aims to bolster Caribbean-wide cooperation and knowledge sharing among fisheries and enforcement personnel – another essential tool for maximizing the benefits of the new procedural manuals.

This initiative is the last pending project being undertaken by the ACP Fish II Programme titled “Strengthening Fisheries Management in ACP Countries,” which aims to contribute positively to poverty alleviation and improved food security in Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. The ACP Fish II project, which began in 2009, concludes next month, in November 2013.

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For more information, please contact:

q  Milton Haughton, Executive Director, CRFM Secretariat at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

q  Dr. Winston McCalla, Project Team Leader - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Tel: 876-999-9639

Links for online information (CLICK LINK TO VIEW):

q  VIDEO: ACP Fish II - CARIFORUM - Enforcement - Video

q  NEWS ITEM: Regional Fisheries Enforcement gets boost from ACP Fish II Initiative

q  BACKGROUND INFO: About ACP Fish II

The enforcement of fisheries laws is a major challenge all across the region, but a new initiative funded by the European Union (EU), through the ACP Fish II Programme, promises to ensure that fisheries personnel, police, coast guard and other relevant enforcement authorities will be more adequately equipped to curb practices which threaten to undermine the sustainability of the fisheries sector and food security across the region.

Acting on a recommendation from the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), the ACP Fish II project has commissioned two regional experts: Dr. Winston McCalla of Jamaica and Ambassador Joseph Daven of Antigua, to build on the successes of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) by revamping and expanding two procedural manuals to cater to the demands of a broader regional regime envisioned in the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy.

More specifically, the experts are working with CARIFORUM States to strengthen the capacity of their enforcement officers and agencies to conduct fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) and to enforce fisheries law.

CRFM Executive Director, Milton Haughton, affirmed: "We want to strengthen their capacities so that they are more effective at prosecuting offenses against the Fisheries Act, and there are various types: There are Illegal Unreported and Unregulated activities that's done by local fishers; there are illegal activities that's done by foreign fishers - foreign fishers from within the Caribbean region, as well as foreign fishers from further off - the distant water fishing nations. We want to deal with the problem at all levels; however, a major weakness in the Caribbean region is the fact that our capacity is limited on the enforcement side, and very often offenses are not successful in the courts because the proper procedures are not followed.”

To address this enforcement lacuna, Dr. McCalla is leading the revision of the OECS Fisheries Prosecution Manual and the OECS Standard Operating Procedures Manual, both produced by the OECS in 1997. The draft regional documents—prepared with input from the countries—will be circulated across CARIFORUM States later this month for further feedback.

McCalla explained that “...what is intended is really this: that with the updated manuals, that we would strengthen the training of individuals—there would be common training for persons within the CARIFORUM; countries that have more advanced developments would share that with others—and that the training mechanism will become more consistent throughout the region. So we'd hope that the enforcement mechanisms will be strengthened, because without enforcement the laws become meaningless. And that is the heartland of the project."

Elaborating on the scope of the enforcement project, Haughton said, "It will address the issue of organizing the surveillance system, it will address issues of how you approach a suspect, how you board a vessel, how you record your information, how you collect your evidence, how you secure your evidence, how you keep your records and so on. It will cover everything, right through to action at the court level."

Belize is one of the CARIFORUM States that will benefit from the ACP Fish II project to upgrade and expand the prosecution manuals. Hampton Gamboa, supervisor of the Conservation Compliance Unit of the Belize Fisheries Department, sees this initiative as timely, since Belize is launching into cutting-edge surveillance technology with the planned introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles called conservation drones.

"I believe that the drone itself will assist us in doing a lot of what is required within the enforcement manual and definitely, again, it will offset a lot of the expense from an administrative point of view and also the manual itself is one that will have us to be more vigilant—it will assist us in being more vigilant—it will assist us in having much more presence, in terms of once we strategise the different areas—problematic areas—and we execute in terms of how the manual has been put together, it will definitely help us in curbing a lot of the illegal activity. And once we incorporate both the manuals and the drones together, we believe that within the next two years, three years, we'll see some tremendous growth in terms of enforcement as well as holding people accountable—especially those who refuse to accept that the seasons are closed and are out doing illegal activities. I must say it's a welcome approach for us, and at the same time it helps us to strengthen what we have in place here in Belize."

The ACP Fish II Programme, in operation since 2009, is nearing completion, and it expects to have 193 projects—including this latest effort to boost the region's enforcement capacity—implemented before the end of November 2013.

Of note is that the revised draft manuals will be further refined at a validation workshop which is scheduled to be held on 16-17 October 2013 in Grenada. The CARIFORUM States are expected to be in full attendance.

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For further information please contact:

Milton Haughton, Executive Director, CRFM Secretariat;

E-mail:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; Telephone: 011 (501) 223-4443 / Fax: 011 (501) 223-4446

Sandra Grant, Regional Manager of the Caribbean, ACP FISH II Programme;

E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; Telephone: 011 (501) 223 2974/ Fax: 011 (501) 223 2975

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

ACP Fish II - CARIFORUM - Enforcement - Video from belizeuser on Vimeo.

A group of thirteen (13) resource managers and fishers are meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to engage in a Training of Trainers workshop, focused on underwater visual census techniques for the queen conch or lambi (Strombus gigas).

The queen conch is an iconic part of Caribbean culture as well as a valuable fisheries resource; yet, many countries do not have the knowledge to conduct surveys to ensure the sustainability of their populations.

This is especially true in those countries where the fishery is still small-scale, with the possible exceptions of Jamaica, Belize and to certain extent The Bahamas and Dominican Republic, where the conch fishery is a well established commercial business. Accordingly, many fishery managers in the CARIFORUM region are forced to make management decisions based on minimal amounts of information.

The training—which began on August 6 and concludes tomorrow, August 24, 2013—addresses the critical lack of training capacity for those fisheries managers.

CRFM’s Deputy Executive Director, Susan Singh-Renton, remarked that, “This training opportunity has addressed a key step in CRFM’s ongoing efforts to improve management of the region’s queen conch fisheries through development of a much needed, stronger, scientific approach.”

She went on to explain that, “The CRFM is paying special attention to the queen conch fishery resource because of its contribution to foreign exchange earnings for the countries concerned, and related to this, international interest in Caribbean queen conch management and conservation practices.”

Trainees represent the following CARIFORUM member states: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The training is divided into two phases: In the first phase, key experts conducted classroom training activities in Kingstown, St. Vincent, by presenting information to the group on the biology and management of conch, as well as survey techniques related to data collection, data analyses. The second phase of the program consists of 9 days of field activities in the Grenadines, in an area of approximately 248km2 around the Tobago Keys, Mayreau and Union Island. This location represents one of the most important conch fishing areas in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The field activities consist of estimating conch abundance using underwater visual census techniques using scuba divers, and by using towed underwater cameras. The trainees participated in all phases of these activities.

After the conclusion of the field surveys, the group reconvened in St. Vincent to analyze the data, make management recommendations based on the surveys, and create conch assessment plans for their own countries.

The entire process is focused on building the capacity for each nation to develop their own sampling programs and subsequently set quota recommendations for conch harvests.

This project was made possible with the support of the European Development Fund on behalf of ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of states) countries that created the ACP Fish II programme, which aims to improve sustainable fisheries management under their jurisdiction.

ACP Fish II provides benefits to The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism with this project entitled “Training in underwater visual survey methods for evaluating the status of Strombus gigas, queen conch stocks”. The project was implemented by the consulting firm Société Française de Réalisation d’Études et de Conseil (SOFRECO), in coordination with the CRFM.

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The ACP Fish II Programme is a four and a half year, EUR€30.0M programme funded by the European Union through the EDF. It has been formulated to strengthen fisheries management, improve food security and alleviate poverty in 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states.

“The cornerstone of the Programme is devising sound policies and plans to ensure sustainable use of fisheries and the development of value-added activities. Therefore, in addition to improving plans and policies at the regional and national levels, ACP Fish II Programme will also see results such as reinforcing the Region’s control and enforcement capabilities; reinforcing research strategies and initiatives as well as developing business supportive regulatory framework and increasing knowledge sharing at all levels in the sector,” advised Dr Sandra Grant, Regional Programme Manager for the Caribbean of the ACP Fish 11 Programme.

The European Union is made up of 27 Member States which have decided to gradually link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, during a period of enlargement of 50 years, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms. The EU is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders. The European Commission is the EU’s executive body.

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Full coverage is welcomed.

For further information please contact:

ACP Fish II Programme Regional Manager for the Caribbean Region, Sandra Grant;
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ;Telephone: 011(501) 223 2974; Fax: 011(501) 223 2975

CRFM : Susan Singh-Renton, DPhil., Deputy Executive Director, CRFM Secretariat,Kingstown,
St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Tel: +1 784 457 FISH; Fax: +1 784 457 3475; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Event Coordinator in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines : Sherrill Barnwell ; Telephone: 1(876) 927 1731

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