(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The development of a Common Fisheries Policy is critical to guarantee the sustainable and efficient management of aquatic resources in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which would in turn bolster food security, sustain employment and generate greater foreign investments in the fisheries sector.
This was underscored by Mr. Milton Haughton, Deputy Executive Director, Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), on Thursday April 2, 2009. He was at the time participating in a Panel Discussion on the topic, “Caribbean Fisheries: Sinking or Swimming in Uncertain Waters,” at the Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana.
Other members of the panel were Mr. Barry Joefield, Senior Project Officer, Agricultural Development, CARICOM Secretariat; Mr. Nigel Dharamlall, Chief Fisheries Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana; Mr. Reuben Charles, Executive Member, Guyana Trawlers Association; and Mr. Les Romalho of the Guyana Fisheries Advisory Committee. Ms Carmel Haynes, Communications Officer, MarGov Project at the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Management, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, moderated the programme.
The Panel Discussion was part of a consultative process in the development of a Common Fisheries Policy and Regime (CFP&R). According to Mr. Haughton, such consultation was necessary to “bridge the gap” between the CFRM political directorate and fisherfolk, and for the CRFM to “understand what is going on, on the ground”.
Outlining the genesis of the CFP&R, Mr. Haughton said that at the Fourteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government, the Heads of Government mandated the CARICOM Secretariat to pursue the establishment of a framework for the exploitation and conservation of fisheries resources in the Region, based on stipulated guidelines. The CRFM was tasked with manning the process.
In pursuit of the CFP&R, Mr. Haughton said a multidisciplinary Working Group was established comprising personnel from the CARICOM Secretariat, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat, University of the West Indies (UWI) and CRFM Member States, to articulate the Policy and Regime. Sub-working groups were also constituted to examine technical, legal, and socio-economic issues.
Mr. Haughton observed that the process towards establishing the CFP&R has had many challenges because of the wide range of issues which had to be settled regarding the policy and the mechanism for its implementation, which the Regime would take into account.
Part of the process’s complexity also, he said, regarded fleshing out concerns of how resources would be demarcated, shared and managed shared resources within common fishing zones.
Despite those challenges, Mr. Haughton said that major strides had been achieved, recently. He explained that at the first meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council, January 2009, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an agreement was reached to separate the Common Fisheries Policy and the Regime for its implementation.
As a result, he said, the Multidisciplinary Working Group was currently involved in negotiating the various positions of CARICOM Member States on the draft policy.
Mr. Haughton stated that the Working Group will present the draft policy at a forum in Dominica on April 20, 2009, after which the CRFM Ministerial Council will meet to consider the proposal. He stated that it is anticipated the draft policy would be ready for the consideration of CARICOM Heads of Government at their 30th Regular Meeting in July 2009, in Georgetown, Guyana.
“The resource cannot be managed outside of a regional approach where the countries that share it come together and decide to use the resource in a manner that ensures its protection,” he said in stressing the critical importance of developing a Common Fisheries Policy for the Region.
