Region serious about fisheries

 The Caribbean region is committed to safeguarding its fisheries and marine resources to ensure sustainability.

This commitment was demonstrated in a tangible way last Friday at the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa in Barbados, when the Seventh Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism was chaired and the Council gave its support to and endorsed the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Project Strategic Action Programme, by becoming a signatory.

Regional Project Co-ordinator with the Caribbean
Large Marine Ecosystem Project, Patrick Debels.

Chairing the Seventh Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the
Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism before he concluded
his tenure was Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local
Government, the Hon. V. Alfred Gray of The Bahamas (centre),
observed by Executive Director of the CRFM Secretariat,
Milton Haughton (left), and the newly-appointed Chairman,
Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource
Management, the Hon. Dr. David Estwick.

According to Regional Project Co-ordinator with the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Project, Patrick Debels, the signing is a milestone. Labelling the endorsement ceremony one of great significance, Debels said, “[The Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Project Strategic Action Programme] is a very broad action programme which strives to bring together all the countries in the region. At this moment, we have obtained already 21 ministerial signatures, so 21 Ministers have already signed this Strategic Action Programme.

“Today, which is a really historical moment, is that in addition to these individual country signatures, we now also have the formal endorsement by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Ministerial Council. So the signal the region is giving politically about the importance of the fisheries issues and the protection of fisheries resources or the sustainability, is very big. It has never been as big.”


Considering that the action programme is funded by various agencies internationally and regionally, Debels said that the signing by the Council further solidifies its commitment in the eyes of investors and augurs well for the future.

At present, he explained, “The Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Project Strategic Action Programme is a project funded by the Global Environment Facility, which is the biggest donor of environmental projects in the world. […] The project was a four-year project which took place in the region. It was supported by a series of UN agencies. The lead UN agency was the United Nations Development Programme, but then at the sub-regional level we had other leaders involved in the execution of the project, such as the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism.”

So, with last Friday’s signing, Debels posited, “This is also important towards the donors, so that the donors see that there is a very strong regional commitment given the importance of fisheries resources, to invest additional resources to bring additional resources to the money, so that we can really upscale the efforts to ensure the socio-economic benefits from the fisheries in the region in the next ten years.”