Belize City, Thursday, 5 May 2016 (CRFM)—The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) is convening a meeting of fisheries experts to chart the course for a new study to look at the impacts of rising cost factors of fishing operations, such as labor, fuel, fishing gear, repair and maintenance, and capital.

The expert working group, which meets in Bridgetown, Barbados today, Thursday, 5 May and tomorrow, Friday, 6 May 2016, will include fisheries experts from CRFM Member States, the CRFM Secretariat, the private sector and the UN FAO, the partner agency for the initiative.

The consultant for the project, Claudia Stella Beltrán Turriago, an economist, will join the experts in Barbados, as they agree on the best methodology to carry out the study. They will also select beneficiary countries which will be targeted for fieldwork and remote surveys, which will entail surveys of small-scale and industrial fishers, suppliers, traders and exporters. 

After the study is completed, a policy brief will be prepared for action by Caribbean leaders. The brief will highlight the major findings and recommendations, including policy options and strategies to increase efficiency, productivity and sustainability of the fisheries and aquaculture sector, while reducing economic risks.

Milton Haughton, Executive Director of the CRFM, notes that, “This study should help fishers and fishing companies to improve profits and income. It is one of the many initiatives being pursued by the CRFM Member States to improve food security. We hope it will also transform, reposition and improve economic and ecological resilience in the fisheries sector, in response to climate change and in keeping with our commitments under the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy.”

The beneficiary countries are the 17 states which are members of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, as well as countries covered by a UN/FAO project on the Sustainable Management of Bycatch in Trawl Fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean (the REBYC-II LAC), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The Caribbean region is very susceptible to fluctuations in world food prices due to high dependence on imported products. The region’s food security is furthermore threatened by the adverse impacts of climate change and climate variability, which exacerbate droughts and floods in major agriculture producing nations, and which are also affecting the region’s coastal and marine ecosystems, like coral reefs, and our fisheries.

In highlighting the need for the study, the CRFM notes that, “Member States need to guard against future economic shocks, such as spikes in fuel prices and other inputs; reduce economic risks; modernize with a view to improving the efficiency of the region’s fishing fleets; reduce barriers to accessing new markets; and address price fluctuations for commercially important species by promoting and developing value-added products.”

Belize City, Monday, 2 May 2016 (CRFM)—Caribbean countries have a living bank of marine resources from which they collectively cash out hundreds of millions of dollars a year to support emerging national economies by providing good jobs, food and foreign exchange, among other benefits. However, in order to remain active and competitive in the global marketplace, countries have had to find ways to surmount the challenges posed by stringent international standards called sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, for food safety and for protection against diseases carried animals and plants.

 

The project has reached a new milestone, as a group of professionals from CARIFORUM States—the countries which make up the Caribbean Community, as well as the Dominican Republic—has just concluded The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Management Course. The intensive two-week training, held at the United Nations University – Fisheries Training Programme (UNU-FTP) in Reykjavik, Iceland, was organized under the capacity building component of the project.

The Caribbean is looking at the Icelandic example to not just bolster its SPS regime, but also to expand the range of value added products from fish, and strengthen the value chain to maximize benefits across the spectrum, from fisher to processor to exporter. All along that chain, adherence to new SPS measures—which are taking shape with plans to establish harmonized legislation across CARIFORUM States—will be vital in helping to secure the region’s position on the global market.

 Special emphasis directed at flyingfish fishery in the Eastern Caribbean / 

Belize City, Belize, 22 April 2016 (CRFM)—The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) this week sealed an agreement with a UN agency to strengthen governance arrangements for the flyingfish fishery in the Caribbean, with special emphasis on maximizing the long-term potential of the fishery, which employs several thousands in the region and feeds many more.

Milton Haughton, Executive Director of the CRFM, signed the Memorandum of Agreement for Caribbean States; while Kirk Bayabos, Senior Cluster Manager, signed on behalf of the project executing agency, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), a subsidiary of the UN.

The agreement is under a 5-year umbrella project, the UNDP/GEF Catalysing Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the Sustainable Management of shared Living Marine Resources in the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems (CLME+) Project, designed to catalyze the implementation of a 10-year Strategic Action Programme (SAP), focused on the sustainable management of shared living marine resources harnessed from the large marine ecosystems in both the Caribbean and the North Brazil Shelf. The SAP was endorsed by the ministers of CARICOM responsible for fisheries and/or environment in 2014.

The Caribbean Sea is described as a semi-enclosed sea adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, south to the Gulf of Mexico. It is one of the largest salt water seas with a diverse marine life that is fundamental to the livelihoods of coastal communities, project documents detail.

It is within this expansive marine space—spanning more than a million square miles—that the flyingfish, a species of fish which has a life-span of less than one year, but which spawns as many as 7,000 eggs several times between November and July, is known to thrive in a zone spanning from Dominica to Trinidad and Tobago.

The wider area known as the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems (jointly called “CLME+”) is bordered by 35 states and territories, including the 17 CRFM Member States.

Due to its vast socio-economic value, the CLME+ buttresses two of the region’s economic pillars: tourism and fisheries. However, these ecosystems are today being adversely impacted by pollution, habitat degradation and unsustainable fisheries and fishing practices. The 10-year SAP created under a forerunner CLME Project is aimed at tackling those threats, while also combating the threats which climate change poses to sustainable fisheries.

In March 2015, a US$ 12.5 million grant was released by the GEF to support the execution of a 5-year project (the CLME+ Project), to advance the implementation of the SAP. The CLME+ Project is being implemented by the Project Coordinating Unit in Cartagena, Colombia in collaboration with a number of regional partners.

In January 2016, three Regional Fisheries Bodies, the CRFM, the Central American Fisheries and Aquaculture Organization (Organización del Sector Pesquero y Acuícola del Istmo Centroamericano, OSPESCA), and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations - Western Central Atlantic Fisheries Commission (FAO-WECAFC) signed a fisheries agreement, to improve their coordination under the CLME+ project through an interim coordination mechanism. The work being undertaken to improve the Caribbean flyingfish fishery will test the effectiveness of this region-wide mechanism.

The parties to this week’s accord—the CRFM and UNOPS—will work together over the next four years to implement a CLME+ project funded by the United Nations Development Program/Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF). The Caribbean sub-component is expected to wrap up in August 2019.

Belize City, Belize, 21 April 2016 (CRFM)—Eighteen professionals who have been working in Fisheries Management, Animal Health and Food Safety from across the CARIFORUM region, are currently overseas receiving specialized training in food safety and animal and plant health.

The trainees are attending the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Management Course, slated for 17-30 April 2016 in Reykjavik, Iceland, under the United Nations University - Fisheries Training Programme (UNU-FTP).

The two-week course, developed by the UNU-FTP in partnership with the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), is exposing the selected trainees to the full range of issues faced in fisheries value chain management, with special focus on the best SPS standards and the institutional arrangements required for the optimized performance of the fishing industry.

Trainees will be involved not only in lecture sessions, but also in field visits to major Icelandic fishing companies, affording them a good opportunity to directly observe their operations. They will also have an opportunity to speak with key professionals about industry practices which keep Iceland at the cutting edge of 'fishing for profits'.

By the end of the course, trainees will have learned the 'A to Z' of the most up-to-date science and practical applications in fish product quality management along the value chain, including cleaning and sanitation in the field and processing plants, traceability, value chain analysis, risk assessment, and optimizing the use of available fishery resources.

Mr. Ferique Shortte, Senior Fisheries Assistant at the Fisheries Division in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who is participating in the training, said: “The first day of the session was quite fascinating. The presentation on 'Handling and Storage of Fish and Fish Products' gave me fresh ideas for scientific work which I can undertake during my fish processing activities using the fish species found back home. Moreover, learning about the different microbes that affect fish and their impacts on health and safety of fish products gave me a new outlook on the fishing industry. Today’s session also highlighted the impact of SPS measures on issues relative to international fish trade."

At the close of the second day's sessions, the Deputy Chief Fisheries Officer for Barbados, Ms. Joyce Leslie, expressed her satisfaction, saying: "The SPS Management Course was already delivering its promise of exposing trainees to the most up-to-date available information on science and technology developments in fish product quality management and value chain analysis."

The training course has been made possible through the EU-funded SPS project, designed to help CARIFORUM countries fulfill international sanitary and phytosanitary standards, to boost foreign trade.

The UNU-FTP, which has worked previously with the CRFM to develop and deliver other types of short-term training courses suitable for Caribbean fisheries management situations, was awarded the contract to design and deliver this EU-sponsored SPS Management Course. Over the years, UNU-FTP has also trained fisheries professionals in CRFM Member States through its six-month training programme in Iceland.

The SPS Project is a major intervention approved under the 10th European Development Fund Caribbean Regional Indicative Programmes (10th EDF CRIP), being implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in partnership with the CARICOM Secretariat and the CRFM. The CRFM is responsible for delivering the fisheries component.

Belize City, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 (CRFM)--Fisheries experts from across the Caribbean region are traveling to Guyana this week for the 14th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum -- the primary technical deliberative body of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM). The Forum will be meeting in Georgetown on Thursday, 7 April and Friday, 8 April to undertake its annual stocktaking and planning for the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

The event will bring together more than 50 participants, including directors of fisheries, chief fisheries officers, and other development partners, such as NGOs and international organizations like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which work with the CRFM in promoting the development, management and conservation of the Caribbean’s fisheries resources.

Justin Rennie, Chief Fisheries Officer of Grenada, will demit chairmanship of the Forum to Denzil Roberts, Chief Fisheries Officer of Guyana, for the 12-month period spanning the new program year which commenced on 1 April. A new vice chairman will also be selected.

CRFM Executive Director, Milton Haughton, highlighted the most pressing issues on the agenda: “We’re discussing a lot of emerging issues in the region. We are looking at how to improve conservation and management of key species, apply and use the value chain approach in order to increase benefits, such as increased income and export potential. We are discussing sanitary and phytosanitary capacity as a part of our overall strategy to strengthen our trade capacity, so that we can indeed export more to key international markets and also to provide greater quality and safety in terms of the fish and seafood that we provide for our people as well as our guests and tourists coming into the region.”

Haughton added that the 17 CRFM Member States are also looking at ways to strengthen the linkage between fisheries and tourism, “because the tourism sector is a huge sector and we believe we have a golden opportunity to enhance the linkages between fisheries and tourism to derive more benefits—more income, more employment opportunities—for our fishers and their communities.”

The Forum will also review the region’s progress in implementing the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP), as well as initiatives to strengthen research, and institutional and human capacity through the CRFM’s collaboration with a number of development partners such as the University of the West Indies (UWI), the University of Florida in the USA, the International Ocean Institute, Dalhousie University, Canada; the University of Wollongong in Australia, and the United Nations University in Iceland.

This collaboration is vital in ensuring that CRFM Member States are equipped with the human and institutional capacity needed to tackle the increasing challenges of sustainable development that confront them—challenges which are being exacerbated by climate change.

One such challenge is the emergence of the Sargassum seaweed on the region’s beaches and in the coastal waters.

“Last year and 2011 we had massive influx of Sargassum seaweed on our beaches that affected our fisheries. So we are putting in place measures to deal with the Sargassum seaweed should it return in the future—we hope it won’t, but just in case it does—and from all indications, we are expecting to have more of this seaweed coming on our shores and in our coastal waters,” Haughton said.

Haughton said that associated with the Sargassum seaweed are large numbers of juvenile dolphinfish (locally known as mahimahi)—which is a very important target species in the Eastern Caribbean.

“Our fishermen, of course, once they see these in large quantities, even though they are juveniles, they will catch them. So we are promoting the implementation of emergency, precautionary management measures; that is, minimum size limits for the dolphinfish fishery,” Haughton said.

Aquaculture is also big on the agenda, and the Forum will discuss a new 5-year aquaculture action plan, which they will be asked to endorse. Since land mass is limited in our region, non-conventional aquaculture schemes are being promoted and explored.

“Aquaponics is something that has been growing in the region—this is growing fish and vegetables together in a limited area using re-circulating water systems. This is more suitable for the smaller islands, like Antigua and Barbuda, and Barbados,” Haughton explained.

On the second day of the meeting, the Forum members will discuss a proposal from the United States to support fishers through a risk insurance facility, Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), which will be handling the technical details for the development of the policy. Under this regime, CRFM Member States will make contributions to the scheme in addition to the initial contribution of the USA.

The Caribbean Fisheries Forum will conclude its meeting with recommendations to be submitted at the next meeting of the CRFM’s Ministerial Council—the chief policy making body on fisheries in the Caribbean Region.

IICA as the implementing agency for the 10th EDF sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures Project and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), a Partner under the Project to develop/strengthen the national and/or regional regulatory and industry capacity related to health and food safety in fisheries and aquaculture to meet the SPS requirements of international trade in areas such as inspection, import/export certification, diagnostics, risk assessment, surveillance, reporting.

Closing date for receipt of Expression of Interest has been extended to 6 May 2016 at 4:00pm Eastern Caribbean Time.  Click here for further details

IICA as the implementing agency for the 10th EDF Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures Project and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), a Partner under the Project are seeking a qualified and experienced company/firm/consortium to continue strengthening national and regional SPS systems for establishing a fully comprehensive legislative framework for health and food safety in the fisheries sector.

Please refer to the attached document for further details regarding the consultancy. Closing date for receipt of Expression of Interest is 6 May 2016 at 4:00pm Eastern Caribbean Time.

Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified nationals of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism Member States to fill the position of PROGRAMME MANAGER – RESEARCH AND RESOURCE ASSESSMENT

Applications in English Language with full curriculum details, including nationality, work experience, educational qualifications, summary of professional skills and/or expertise, list of professional publications, coordinates (including e-mail addresses) of three referees (at least two of whom must be familiar with the applicant’s work), and other relevant information, should be addressed to the Executive Director, Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat, Belize City, Belize, and sent by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The deadline for the submission of applications is 30 April 2016.

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