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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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 10^th 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.

St. George’s, Grenada, 18 May 2015 (CRFM): In a milestone development for the region, Fisheries Ministers recently endorsed a new Declaration on Spiny Lobster—a highly traded marine species in the Caribbean—at the 9th Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), which concluded on Friday, 15 May 2015 in Grenada.

The declaration, which is a non-binding roadmap for closer regional collaboration, was signed by the newly installed chairman of the CRFM Ministerial Council – Honourable Roland Bhola, Grenada’s Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, who assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Council on the occasion of the meeting from Honourable Johnson Drigo, Dominica’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Minister Bhola presents signed declaration to CRFM Executive Director

The declaration states that its objective “...is to ensure the long-term sustainable use of the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) resources through effective implementation of conservation and management measures for the stocks and their habitats based on the best scientific evidence available.”

It calls on the 17 CRFM Member States to develop or adapt existing national strategies, plans, programmes or regulations to achieve the objective of the Spiny Lobster Declaration.(Panulirus argus) resources through effective implementation of conservation and management measures for the stocks and their habitats based on the best scientific evidence available.”

The declaration underscores the need for regional management initiatives to take into account the interests of small-scale and subsistence fishers and promote their participation in the decision-making processes that affect their livelihoods.

The Spiny Lobster Declaration recognizes the trans-boundary nature of the species and the interconnectedness of the marine ecosystems in which they live, and it highlights the need for Member States to cooperate and coordinate actions.

This is in line with provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, establishing the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, which enjoins CARICOM Member States to cooperate in all areas necessary to foster regional development and integration in natural resource management and fisheries management and development.

The declaration—which addresses research, data collection and the sharing of data and information; conservation and management measures; monitoring control and surveillance; and public awareness and education—is also in concert with the main objectives of the CARICOM Common Fisheries Policy and the Agreement establishing the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism.

The CRFM aims to promote efficient management and sustainable development of marine and other aquatic resources, and promote and establish cooperative management arrangements for shared and highly migratory resources in conformity with the economic objectives of the Member States.

St. George’s, Grenada, 13 May 2015 (CRFM): Fisheries Ministers from Member States of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) are expected to sign off on the Declaration on Spiny Lobster by way of a resolution, when they convene the 9th Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the CRFM on Friday, 15 May 2015 at Flamboyant Hotel in St. George's, Grenada.

The non-binding declaration establishes a roadmap for closer cooperation among the 17 CARICOM/CRFM States to ensure long-term conservation and sustainable use of the lobster resources.

The Ministerial Council meeting is scheduled to open at 9:00 a.m. The feature address will be delivered by Honourable Roland Bhola, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Grenada, who will assume the chairmanship of the Council on the occasion of the meeting from Honourable Johnson Drigo, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dominica.

Milton Haughton, Executive Director of the CRFM Secretariat in Belize, said: “This is another important policy-level meeting of the CRFM Member States as they seek to strengthen cooperative arrangements, to realize the full development potential of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in the region.

“Our vision and long-term goal is to transform the region’s fisheries and aquaculture into sustainable systems, in order to optimize the sector’s contribution to food and nutritional security, improved livelihoods and wealth generation, through the application of science and technology, good governance, and inclusive, sustainable development strategies.”

When they meet this Friday, the Caribbean Fisheries Ministers will be reviewing the progress being made in the implementation of existing policy instruments and programs. In charting the way forward, they will also make decisions on the next steps in the transformation process.

High on their agenda will be the endorsement of the process now underway to develop the Plan of Action to facilitate the implementation of the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP).

The Fisheries Ministers will also discuss an initiative recently announced by the Government of the United States during the Caribbean Energy Summit on climate risk insurance for the Caribbean fisheries sector. This is in line with efforts to achieve Climate Smart Food Security (CSFS) using a Risk Insurance Facility (RIF).

The Ministerial Council will finally receive a full report on the outcome and recommendations of the 13th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum, held in St. George’s, Grenada at the end of March this year.

The Ministerial Council of the CRFM is the arm of the CRFM which has primary responsibility for determining the policies of the organisation, resource allocation, cooperative agreements, and related decision-making.

St. George’s, Grenada, 1 April 2015 (CRFM): Fisheries officials who spoke at the 13th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum, held in St. George’s, Grenada, earlier this week, highlighted the need for collective action by the 17 member states of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), in order to overcome the mounting challenges which confront the fisheries and aquaculture sector of the Caribbean.

Senator Simon Steele, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment of Grenada, the keynote speaker for the event, elaborated on some of the challenges: among them international and local economic pressures and rising input costs; threats to fish stocks and habitats from pollution and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing; as well as the adverse effects of climate change.

“We have no shortage of challenges,” said Steele, adding that, “To confront these challenges as small island developing states with vulnerable economies, it is of critical importance that we strengthen our cooperation and unity within the region, since we share common principles in developing, managing, and utilizing the living marine resources in a responsible and sustainable manner – which is why forums such as this are of such importance to us.”

Milton Haughton, the Executive Director of the CRFM, highlighted the need for the region to make a more concerted effort to reverse the trend of declining aquaculture in the Caribbean—a trend which runs contrary to the global upswing, which shows aquaculture outpacing capture fisheries.

“In the 1970s, most of the seafood we consumed was harvested from wild marine stocks with aquaculture contributing just 3% of total fish production. Today, aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world,” Haughton said.

By contrast he noted that, “Commercial aquaculture began in the region in the late 1970s and production steadily grew to just under 19,000 metric tons in 2004/2005. But since the global economic crisis, aquaculture has declined dramatically in the region to about 8,000 metric tons in 2012, with the main reduction coming from the collapse of the industry in Jamaica, which fell from 5,000 to 6,000 metric tons to just about 500 metric tons in 2012.”

Haughton said that the Caribbean must begin to put in place the systems and regulations needed to overcome the impediments being faced in the region.

“We do need to provide the necessary legislative and regulatory framework, the policy support and the incentives to our fish farmers and private sector investors, so that they can grow the sector and increase production not only for local consumption but also for exports, to earn foreign exchange, to generate employment opportunities, and to create wealth for our people,” the CRFM Executive Director urged.

During the past year, the CRFM, with funding from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), conducted a review of aquaculture in region and it prepared a 5-year plan of action to guide development of aquaculture for the coming years.

“Our region is endowed with a vast amount of marine space which provides significant opportunities that can contribute to the economic and social development of current and future generations. It is fundamental that we engage in efforts that would enhance capacity and collaboration among our peoples at all levels,” said Marilyn Austin-Cadore, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Forestry and Fisheries, who noted that this was the first time the Forum was meeting in Grenada.

During the Forum meeting, Andrew Magloire, Chief Fisheries Officer of Dominica, turned over the chairmanship of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum to his counterpart from Grenada, the host country.

Magloire, who proceeded on preretirement leave after the meeting, said that while the CRFM and the Forum have grappled with “humungous challenges,” they have also enjoyed “humongous successes.”

“Central to this, we see the ratification and acceptance or adaptation of the Common Fisheries Policy, which has been a mechanism that we have been working on for the last 12 years, and it is most heartening for me to stand here as outgoing chair knowing that we have finally come to the point of the acceptance [and] adoption of the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy,” said Magloire.

He added that a major challenge remains: that is, bringing Caribbean countries together in the recognition that the region cannot sustain and develop its fisheries without integrating its processes in order to achieve the sustainable utilization and governance of the vital fisheries resources across CRFM states.

“Dominica like many of our brother or sister states depends on those fishery resources to provide for our food security, to provide for opportunities of employment, and to provide for a level of food security of our people, knowing that we have a resource that can be sustained for years and for generations to come,” Magloire said.

He called on CRFM member states to support the CRFM in bringing forth a work program geared towards sustainability and responsible governance of the fisheries resources in the region.

The 13th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum concluded after deliberations on the regional spiny lobster declaration, which the Forum is recommending for adoption by the CRFM’s Ministerial Council when it meets in Grenada in May.

Representatives of CRFM partner agencies and institutions, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), the University of the West Indies (UWI), and fisherfolk organization, as well as private sector representatives, such as the representative of Spice Isles Fish House in Grenada, were among those who attended this week’s Forum meeting.

 Belize City, March 29, 2015 (CRFM): Heads of national fisheries authorities from the seventeen (17) Member States of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), as well as observers and partner agencies, will attend the 13th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum in Grenada this week. The representatives will review the status of fisheries and aquaculture in the region and chart the roadmap for enhancing their contribution to national and regional development.

A Caribbean spiny lobster on the sea floor. This photo was shot during a 2010 NOAA expedition in the U.S. Virgin Islands to map underwater habitats and the marine life they support. (Credit: NOAA)

Photo: A Caribbean spiny lobster on the sea floor. This photo was shot during a 2010 NOAA expedition in the U.S. Virgin Islands to map underwater habitats and the marine life they support. (Credit: NOAA)

CRFM Executive Director, Milton Haughton, said, “The fisheries and aquaculture sector is playing an increasing role in food and nutrition security, as well as the provision of income and livelihoods for the people of the Caribbean.”

The 13th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum will open at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 30 at the Flamboyant Hotel in St. George’s, Grenada. It will conclude on Tuesday, March 31, 2015.

The Forum is the arm of the CRFM which provides technical and scientific leadership to the organisation. It also provides advice to the CRFM Ministerial Council on regional actions for sustainable development and conservation of the resources.

At its upcoming meeting, the Forum is expected to review and finalise the latest version of the regional lobster declaration and recommend its approval by the Ministerial Council, when it meets in Grenada in May 2015. This is an agreement to promote harmonised regional actions to ensure the sustainability and conservation of spiny lobster resources, and to protect its habitats and ecosystems against the threats of irresponsible fishing, habitat degradation, and climate change and related adverse impacts.

Apart from advancing the regional spiny lobster declaration, the Caribbean Fisheries Forum will review and refine the plan of action for the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP) – a regional agreement for the conservation, management and sustainable utilisation of fisheries and aquaculture resources.

The Forum will also review activities in CRFM states to achieve the sustainable management and use of fisheries resources (including flyingfish, tunas and other tuna-like species), the sustainable development of aquaculture, and adaptation to climate change and disaster risk management in the sector.

The CRFM is an inter-governmental organisation of Caribbean states, namely Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The CRFM’s goal is to establish appropriate measures for the conservation, management, sustainable utilisation and development of fisheries resources and related ecosystems. It also works to strengthen the skills of fishers across the region, as well as to optimise the social and economic returns from the fisheries sector. Finally, the CRFM promotes competitive trade and stable market conditions.

The fisheries sector in the CARICOM / CARIFORUM region employs over 182,000 persons, directly or indirectly. These fishers are mostly from rural communities which lack other income-earning opportunities.