regional official
The Caribbean fisheries industry could face “trouble in the future” unless measures are taken to improve management and conservation practices in the sector, according to a senior official of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Machinery (CRFM).
Deputy Executive Director of the CRFM Milton Haughton told an April 2 regional fisheries forum that the Caribbean needed to elevate the principle of conservation of its fisheries resources to a much higher level than it is at present.
The forum, which was staged at the Caribbean Community Secretariat at Turkeyen is one of a series of sector-wide consultative sessions being undertaken by the CRFM ahead of the creation of a Common Fisheries Policy and Regime (CFPR) mandated by Caricom Heads of Government.
Concerns over deficiencies in the management and conservation of regional fish stocks centre around both over-fishing in the cases of some species and the underutilization of what Haughton said were “hundreds of other species”. Haughton said that an approach which the CRFM had explored in an effort to bring about the more sustainable use of the region’s fisheries resources was the creation of a common fishing zone that would allow regulated access to underexploited species within national jurisdictions in cases where local fishermen were not interested in certain species.
Concern over the future of the regional fishing industry has prompted Caricom Heads to mandate the secretariat to prepare a CFPR, which is expected to inform fishing practices, including management and conservation in the region as a whole. Haughton told the fisheries forum that the CRFM, which has been assigned to prepare the CFPR, had decoupled the preparation of the “policy” and “regime” aspects of the assignment and that the “policy” was due to be presented to Caricom Heads at their 30th summit scheduled to be held here in July.
Despite suggestions of lack of progress in the creation of sound management and conservation mechanisms for the fisheries sector, Haughton pointed to positive steps that had been taken to enable greater stakeholder management in the sector. He cited the endorsement by Fisheries Ministers of the region of a proposal that the Caribbean Regional Fisherfolk Network be recognised as the representative body for fisherfolk in the region, a step which he said allowed the body to participate in decisions concerning the industry at the local and regional levels.
A release from the Caricom Secretariat issued at the end of the forum said that the decision to grant formal recognition to the Regional Fisherfolk Network “marks the first time such a formal mechanism would be in place for fishers to have a seat at the Caribbean Fisheries Forum which is the main advisory body to the CRFM”.
Despite the recent recognition of the regional fisherfolk body, Haughton said that the CRFM remained concerned over remaining challenges to forging a cohesive regional fisheries sector including the remoteness of some fishing communities and the lack of organization among fisherfolk in some member states. The Caricom Secretariat release said that the CRFM had secured funds for a project “aimed at building capacity in existing fisherfolk organizations” and coordinating the creation of such structures in places where they do not exist.
Meanwhile, a separate release from the Caricom Secretariat said that stakeholders in the regional fisheries sector want the development of the fishing industry to be placed on par with what obtains in the regional agricultural sector in order to maximise its contribution to their respective national economies.
According to the release, stakeholders at the fisheries forum pointed out that while 82 per cent of the Caribbean region was oceanic space its resources were underutilized and its capacity to contribute to regional economies insufficiently exploited.
The call at the regional fisheries forum was echoed by Chairman of the Number 66 Regional Fish Port Complex Pravin Chandra Deodat. In a telephone interview with this newspaper, he said he supported the view expressed at the forum that more resources should be channelled to the fishing industry. Speaking from a Guyana standpoint, Deodat, who is also a member of the National Fisheries Advisory Committee, told Stabroek Business that apart from the fact that the fisheries sector was assuming a growing significance in the Guyana economy, the costs associated with the management of the sugar and rice sectors, including drainage, irrigation and flood control, far exceeded the resources needed to improve the fisheries sector. And according to the Caricom release, another member of the local Fisheries Advisory Committee, Len Romahlo, who was present at the April 2 forum, said he anticipated that the fisheries sector would see the investments and development which were currently present in the sugar and rice industries.
