(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Stakeholders in the Fisheries Sector in the Region want its development to be on par with what obtains in the traditional agriculture sector in order to maximise its contribution to their economies. At a two-hour panel discussion on Thursday April 2, 2009 at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana, stakeholders pointed out that while about 82 percent of the Caribbean Region was oceanic space, its resources were under-utilised and its capacity to contribute to regional economies was insufficiently explored.
Caribbean Fisheries; Sinking or Swimming in Uncertain Waters was the theme of the panel discussion that was coordinated by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) in collaboration with the CARICOM Secretariat.
Panellist Mr. Les Romalho of the Guyana Fisheries Advisory Committee said that he anticipated that the Fisheries sector would see the investments and development which were evident in the sugar and rice industries, for example.
Panellist Mr. Nigel Dharamlall, Chief Fisheries Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana, pointed out that the Government of Guyana had begun to recognise the potential of the Fisheries Sector and greater efforts were underway to exploit country’s aquatic resources. Among the initiatives he outlined included the institutional strengthening of the Fisheries Unit of the Ministry of Agricultural in an effort to transform it into a semi-autonomous body; the establishment of a Fisheries Advisory Committee; and the development of a National Fisheries Management Plan. He added that the Government of Guyana had also recognised the importance of sustaining local fish stock and had begun to encourage greater investments in aquaculture.
At the outset of the discussion, Mr. Barry Joefield, Senior Project Officer, Agricultural Development at the CARICOM Secretariat said that at the Regional level, Fisheries had been addressed with great degrees of importance and it was the only sector within the Community that had a Ministerial Council at the helm of its governance structure.
He noted that with the establishment of the CRFM, which had “come of age”, and efforts at developing policies to exploit marine resources based on stipulated guidelines, there was “hope” for the sector.
Mr. Joefield urged stakeholders to vigorously debate issues regarding the management and sustainability of the Fisheries sector, to bring a Common Fisheries Policy to fruition. Mr Reuben Charles, Consultant and Executive Member of Guyana Trawlers Association, who was also a panellist, pointed out that among the concerns of fishermen was the depletion of their fishing grounds, once national jurisdictions were opened to fishermen from other CARICOM territories. He suggested that ways had to be found to inform them about the measures being negotiated to better manage the region’s fisheries resources.
With regard to the regional approach towards ensuring the sustainable development of the sector, Mr. Milton Haughton, Deputy Executive Director, CRFM, stated that the CRFM was urging greater harvesting of under-exploited marine resources.
He said current research suggested that most of the fish stock within the pelagic or open sea range, including the queen conch and the lobster, had been over-exploited.
An approach that the CRFM had explored to ensure the sustainable use of the Region’s marine resource was the common fishing zone, which was to allow regulated access to under-exploited species within national jurisdictions, where local fishermen were not interested in particular species, Mr. Haughton said.
He gave the example of Barbados’ interest in sea eggs. This aquatic resource was present in other CARICOM territories, but it was not in demand, he said. The CRFM Deputy Director stated this was a classic example of an under utilised resource.
In Belize also, he said, fishing did not go beyond the coral reefs. Fishing in this Central American CARICOM Member State mainly targeted species such as conch, lobsters, snapper and other small pelagic fishes, Mr. Haughton said.
“There are hundreds of other species beyond the reefs in deeper water that are not being utilised at all,” he lamented.
Stressing the need for sustainable approaches toward fishing in the Region, Mr. Haughton said, “We must elevate the principle of conservation and protection of the resource to a much higher level than is presently obtained.”
“We guarantee that unless we put systems in place to ensure sustainable use of our fish resources, we are going to be in trouble in the future… our resources are too precious and too valuable, it supports to many fishermen, it is too critical to many of our people for it to be allowed to decline due to lack of conservation and management measures,” Mr. Haughton stated.
