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BELIZE CITY, Thursday, 28 March 2024 (CRFM)—The five-day Joint Stock Assessment Workshop and Stakeholder Consultation for the Atlantic seabob shrimp fisheries of Guyana and Suriname, held in Guyana from 11-15 March 2024, ended with a renewed commitment. Technical experts from the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat, the Continental Shelf Fisheries Working Group (CSWG), FISH4ACP, and private sector processors agreed to keep all hands on deck to steer the fisheries towards greater sustainability.

 

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Caribbean technical experts from the CRFM Secretariat, the Continental Shelf Fisheries Working Group (CSWG), FISH4ACP, and private sector processors collaborated for a joint stock assessment of the seabob fisheries of Guyana and Suriname

Photo: FISH4ACP, Guyana

  

This recent stock assessment was critical for revealing stock trends and changes in relative abundance of the seabob, enabling the technical experts to provide management advice for both fisheries in Guyana and Suriname.

 

“You must admit that stock assessments are becoming increasingly important to assess the sustainability of the region’s fisheries. The approach used here—governments and the private sector working together—is one that we should follow across all CRFM Member States,” said Dr. Sandra Grant, Deputy Executive Director, CRFM Secretariat.

 

Stephen Hall - Fleet operations (and former captain) at Heiploeg Suriname N.V., who has been a seaman for 32 years, said: “The most important thing that I learned coming out of this meeting is that there is still work to be done.” He said that he plans to continue working with the Fisheries Department in Suriname to advance the scientific assessments. He noted that the workshop and stakeholder consultation helped to strengthen their capacity for future work.

 

Jude Jagroop - Director at Heiploeg Suriname N.V., who has been working in the sector for 31 years, explained that the operations of the company, which has approximately 200 workers, extends along the supply chain—from fishing to processing. He noted that the seabob catches have declined, but he believes that the stock is healthy, although the species distribution may have shifted to more inshore locations.

 

Jagroop said that the company has two representatives on the Suriname  Seabob Working Group, and it sponsors all the costs incurred to deploy the vessels to collect data with the Fisheries Department. He added that the company also facilitates the accommodation of the Fisheries Department observers whenever needed. One of the critical improvements he cited is the need to enhance the efficiency of data capture through digitization.

 

Rob Banning, Project Development Manager, Parlevliet & Van der Plas, The Netherlands, highlighted the importance of certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). He said that MSC certification gives consumers extra confidence that when they buy fisheries products, they are coming from a sustainably managed resource. He added that the MSC certification labels are required for companies to sell their produce in Europe and the US, and without this certification, companies have very limited market access, and they have to sell at lower prices.

 

The Seabob Working Groups of Guyana and Suriname have been charged with leading the implementation of the outcomes and recommendations from the joint stock assessment workshop. Muriel Wirjodirjo, chair of the Suriname Seabob Working Group, said that they conduct a monthly review and analysis of the fisheries, consistent with the ecosystem, precautionary, and participatory approaches. The CRFM CSWG, which provides technical support to the national working groups, promotes the sustainable utilization of continental shelf resources and associated ecosystems through the review and analysis of fisheries and related data, to inform management strategies.

 

– END –

 

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Published in CRFM News

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Belize City, Monday, 25 March 2024 (CRFM)—As the global discussion continues on the elimination of harmful subsidies to the fisheries sector, following the adoption of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference on 17 June 2022, Caribbean countries have been engaged on its far-reaching implications. The WTO Agreement sets new, binding, multilateral rules to curb harmful subsidies, which are a key factor in the widespread overfishing of the world’s fish stocks. Specifically, the Agreement prohibits subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, for utilizing overfished stocks, and for fishing on the unregulated high seas. Implementation of this Agreement will contribute to the fulfillment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target 14.6.

 

The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), the CARICOM Secretariat, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and WTO are co-hosting the 2nd Regional Technical Workshop on the Ratification and Implementation of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement in CARICOM Member States. The purpose of the event—which is bringing together Caribbean senior Trade and Fisheries officials and representatives from partner organizations in Bridgetown, Barbados, from 25-26 March 2024—is to provide resources and tools to guide ratification and implementation of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

 

The Technical Workshop will also help to chart a way forward for the implementation of the Agreement and strengthen the capacity of national Fisheries and Trade Officials to implement the Agreement. It will also build upon the outcomes of the first technical workshop on Fisheries Subsidies for the Caribbean region held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 17-19 January 2023. The ongoing second wave of fisheries subsidies negotiations, which seek to develop additional provisions on subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, will also be discussed, with reference to the recently held 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.

 

Copy of The Honourable Ahmed Hussen Minister of International Development 1

 

The Keynote Speaker for the Opening Ceremony will be the Hon. Kerrie Symmonds, M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Senior Minister coordinating the Productive Sector, of Barbados. Ambassador Wayne McCook, Assistant Secretary-General, CARICOM Single Market and Trade, and Therese Turner-Jones, Vice-President (Operations)(Ag.) at the Caribbean Development Bank, will also deliver remarks during the Opening Ceremony.

 

Milton Haughton, Executive Director, CRFM Secretariat, will also present remarks during the Opening Ceremony and later lead off the technical engagement with a presentation on Sustainable Fisheries Management and Development in the Caribbean in the context of fisheries subsidies. Clarisse Morgan, Director - Rules Division at the WTO Secretariat, will deliver remarks as well as an Overview of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, and Chantal Ononaiwu, Director of External Trade at the CARICOM Secretariat, will present on the second wave of negotiations on Fisheries Subsidies.

 

As of 12 March 2024, 71 countries had ratified the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, including five (5) CRFM Member States: Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Haiti, and Saint Lucia. According to the World Trade Organization, for the Agreement to enter into force, two-thirds of WTO members (or 109 countries) must formally accept the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies by depositing an “instrument of acceptance” with the WTO. Once the Agreement enters into force, it will remain open for acceptance by any other WTO member and will take effect for that new signatory as soon as its instrument of acceptance is deposited with the WTO.

 

Member States will speak on their internal processes and approaches towards ratification and implementation of the WTO Agreement, including any challenges experienced. International and regional organizations providing technical assistance and capacity building support will provide details on opportunities available to support countries with implementation of the agreement once it has come into force.

 

This week’s technical workshop also provides a forum for other regional and international organizations, fisherfolk, donors, non-CARICOM countries, and private sector representatives who would be directly or indirectly impacted by the Subsidies Agreement to be engaged on this critical matter.

 

It is expected that at the conclusion of the 2nd Regional Technical Workshop on the Ratification and Implementation of the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, Caribbean countries will be better equipped to chart the way forward for the ratification and implementation of the Agreement.

 

—Ends—

Published in Press release

Belize City, Friday, 28 April 2023 (CRFM)—The Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), comprised of Ministers responsible for fisheries from across the Caribbean Community, met on Thursday, 27 April 2023, to chart the way forward for the revitalization and expansion of the region’s fisheries and aquaculture sector—a goal which lies at the heart of the CRFM’s observance of its 20th Anniversary this year. During Thursday’s deliberations, the Ministers approved 32 resolutions, as they reviewed progress and mapped out sustainable solutions to challenges such as fisheries management; illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and fisheries crime; climate change and ocean acidification; imbalances in international trade; and Sargassum influxes which are expected to reach record levels this year. Furthermore, the Ministers provided guidance and policy direction to the CRFM Secretariat and Member States on harnessing the opportunities arising in the emerging Blue Economy, through initiatives such as a new multimillion-dollar regional project to promote blue economic growth.

Hon. Avinash Singh, Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Trinidad and Tobago, chaired the Seventeenth Meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council. Trinidad and Tobago took over the reins of the Council from Hon. Parmanand Sewdien, Suriname’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, for a one-year term.

Hon. Singh acknowledged the contributions of the CRFM Secretariat in providing technical support to the Ministers during the proceedings, and for making impactful representations for Member States that benefit the entire region. He added that he looked forward to a very productive term ahead, as the CRFM continues to navigate the waters, in providing a sustainable future for the younger generations to follow. 

Ministers map out sustainable solutions to challenges such as fisheries management, climate change, capacity building, imbalances in international trade, and Sargassum influxes

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CARICOM countries depend on fishing for food, social welfare, employment, and much more (Photo: CRFM) 

 

At their meeting on Thursday, the Ministers adopted the Protocol to the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy on Aquatic Foods as a Strategic Resource for Food and Nutrition Security—the third protocol adopted under the regional fisheries policy. The protocol’s objective is to recognize, promote, and support the sustainable use of fish, shellfish, marine plants and seafood as a strategic resource for food and nutrition security for the peoples of the Caribbean.

Although fish production in our region is expanding, the Caribbean is still a major importer of fish and seafood. However, CRFM’s Executive Director, Mr. Milton Haughton, noted that there are projects and initiatives being implemented that should improve availability and access to safe and affordable fish and seafood to the people of the region. He announced that a US$48 million project—the CAF/FAO/CRFM/GEF/Caribbean Blue Economy Project entitled, Promoting National Blue Economy Priorities Through Marine Spatial Planning in the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Plus or the BE-CLME+ Project—should commence around July 2023. The Fisheries Ministers welcomed the final approval of the Project Document by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) in November 2022, paving the way for the disbursement of funds and commencement of the project. The funding includes a US$25 million line of credit co-financed by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) for fisheries enterprises in the private sector to upgrade their capacities and develop fisheries value chains.

 

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 Mr. Milton Haughton, Executive Director, 

Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (Photo: CRFM)

 

The Ministers also welcomed the updates on the efforts by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism and the New Zealand Plant and Food Research (PFR), under the project entitled, Sargassum Products for Climate Resilience in the Caribbean. With support from New Zealand, technical experts in agronomy, technology, engineering and business development, the CRFM and PFR are pursuing the production of liquid fertilizers, compost, and other potential products, while ensuring that any health risks associated with doing so are eliminated through the processing of the Sargassum. Haughton noted that there is a great need for affordable fertilizers for agriculture, much of which is imported. The University of the West Indies and Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) are key partners in this initiative. The intention is to develop processes, technologies, products, and business models that can be made available to potential entrepreneurs from the region, thereby creating jobs and economic activities while mitigating the negative environmental, health and socio-economic impacts of the Sargassum seaweed.

The Ministers issued a strong resolution establishing a roadmap to strengthen measures to prevent “ghost fishing” or abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), which is one of the most harmful forms of marine debris. Since 2018, the CRFM and the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) have collaborated on prevention, mitigation, remediation, predictive modeling and capacity sharing work in the Caribbean. The CRFM Secretariat will now execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the GGGI for enhanced cooperation and coordination in addressing ghost fishing in the region.

 

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 Sargassum sampling for testing off the coast of Belize in 2021, during phase 1 of the project (Photo: CRFM)

 

The Ministers commended the CRFM Secretariat and international development partners for the significant work done and outputs achieved during the past programme year. This body of work included various policies developed and adopted, projects advanced, technical publications completed, training and capacity building support provided, and advances in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and fisheries crime, improving sanitary and phytosanitary systems, strengthening data and information systems, as well as significant contributions to international processes.

This included the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which was adopted on 17 June 2022, after 21 years of talks. The Ministers urged Member States to take the necessary actions to accept and implement the agreement as soon as possible. However, they are asking Member States to consult all key stakeholders to ensure that all relevant issues are taken into account and that the full implications of the agreement are understood prior to accepting and enshrining it into national law or policies. They furthermore urged Member States to continue working with the CARICOM and CRFM Secretariats in the process of acceptance and implementation of the agreement, and also the future negotiations to address the remaining issues and gaps that could not have been addressed when the current agreement was concluded in 2022.

The Ministers also took note of the recent conclusion of international negotiations that resulted in the formulation of the UN Agreement on Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction in March 2023, and they urged Member States to take advantage of the opportunities to obtain tangible, sustainable benefits from the biodiversity in the marine areas beyond national jurisdiction.

The Fisheries Ministers welcomed the development of the Regional Strategic Framework for Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and CARICOM Member States (2020-2026). The Ministers are asking the CRFM Secretariat to work with the IAEA, which has the largest marine lab in the world, located in Monaco, and other regional partners to facilitate and coordinate cooperation activities in fisheries management, aquaculture development, marine biodiversity conservation, ocean acidification, combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and seafood fraud, and other relevant areas where the expertise of IAEA can add value.

The policymakers also endorsed the Convention on Biological Diversity Global Biodiversity Framework , which was adopted by the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention in December 2022. The Convention on Biological Biodiversity is a global treaty adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. The framework sets out the global biodiversity agenda for the next decade, with the overarching goal of living in harmony with nature by 2050—a vision which the CARICOM Fisheries Ministers also endorsed.

The Council reviewed the status of a request made to FAO and reaffirmed the priority accorded to that request, for securing the services of the modern Norwegian marine survey vessel, the Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, to conduct a comprehensive survey of the marine resources in the offshore waters of CARICOM States, to support blue economic development and sustainable use of the living marine resources.

The Council is due to meet again in special session in October 2023.

– ENDS – 

Published in Press release

Rainforest Seafoods is a leading Caribbean producer and exporter based in Jamaica, with operations in Belize. It exports safe seafood to the EU. (Photo: Rainforest Seafoods)

 

Belize City, Friday, 27 May 2016 (CRFM)—Caribbean economies are poised to benefit from a region-wide initiative to expand seafood market share, through the implementation of food safety measures to enable countries to get a bigger piece of the global pie, worth an estimated US$130 billion annually. Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, are now capitalizing on a coordinated approach to broaden the gateway to the growing market. CARIFORUM (CARICOM and the Dominican Republic) now exports about US$400 million worth of fish and seafood annually.

Belize and Jamaica are two Caribbean seafood exporters already tapping into markets controlled by the European Union (EU)—a tough market to access because of stringent standards which require that countries have systems in place to ensure that their exports are not only safe for consumption but also free from harmful pests and pathogens.

In the case of Belize, which has traditionally exported shrimp to the EU, it is moving to export conch to that market for the first time in 2016, according to Endhir Sosa, Senior Food Safety Inspector, Belize.

Sosa was among the eighteen professionals from CARIFORUM who recently received management training on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) in Iceland. The training was offered under the capacity-building component of an EU-sponsored project to implement SPS Measures under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) regime. The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) are collaborating to implement the fisheries component of the project.

 

Demystifying SPS

Sosa broke down the meaning of this very technical term, which could just as well be the acronym for ‘safe and profitable seafood’: “In a nutshell, it’s just a series of procedures, of guidelines, of requirements, that one needs to implement to basically prove that what they are producing is safe,” the food safety expert commented.

“Confidence is what is key! It is what everybody seeks when it comes to the purchase and consumption of food products,” he said, adding that, “SPS is one of those routes where you can establish that confidence in your product.”

BAHA monitors seafood processing plants

BAHA monitors seafood processed for trade (Photo: BAHA)

 

Sosa notes that, “Once you have an established SPS system in place and it is vetted and it’s shown to be functional, that will open markets locally, regionally and internationally."

This has been the case for Belize: “When BAHA [the Belize Agricultural Health Authority] first started in 2000, you could count the number of countries we were exporting to on your hand. It wasn’t more than 5 to 7. Today, thanks to SPS, thanks to the confidence that our SPS program has put into our products, not only fish, the markets have increased almost three-fold. Now we have a little over 30 markets,” Sosa said.

 

Building SPS capacity

Chairman of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum, Denzil Roberts, who is also the Chief Fisheries Officer in Guyana, notes that: “The fisheries sector within the CARIFORUM region continues to play an important role in rural development, food and nutrition security, income generation and foreign exchange earnings. However, it must be recognized that there is a paucity of skilled personnel within the region to further develop the sector in keeping with the emerging challenges.”

The intensive two-week training course recently held in Iceland served to help fill this knowledge gap in the Caribbean.

Susan Singh-Renton, the CRFM’s Deputy Executive Director, notes that, “The CRFM/UNU-FTP SPS Management Course has been very successful in achieving its objective of exposing CARIFORUM Fisheries and Agricultural Health and Food Safety experts to the key lessons and best practices of the Icelandic fishing industry in producing safe and wholesome fishery products of an international standard.”

trainees in wrap up

Thor Asgeirsson, Deputy Programme Director at UNU-FTP,  talks with CARIFORUM SPS professionals in wrap-up session (Photo: CRFM)

 

She added that, “At the close of the course, participants reflected on and also documented how they would apply what they had learned to improve fisheries SPS management in their home countries.”

Jeannette Mateo, Director of Fisheries Resources at the Dominican Council for Fisheries and Aquaculture (CODOPESCA) in the Dominican Republic, suggested that nationals in her country, such as biologists, inspectors, fisheries officers and consumer protection agents, should be trained in basic concepts of SPS.

For his part, Roberts hopes that the trainees will immediately begin to impart what they have learned to others in their national networks. Roberts furthermore hopes that trainees will implement internationally recognized safety standards for seafood, thereby safeguarding the health of the local population while ensuring market access to meet global market demands.

Singh-Renton said that the CRFM will also strive to do its part to provide follow-up regional support for improved SPS management for the region's fishing industries, including facilitating continued networking among the course participants.

Gatekeepers fight against food fraud

One of the more frequent but often overlooked problems within the Caribbean is food fraud and mislabeling,” notes Dr. Wintorph Marsden, Senior Veterinary Officer in Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.

Marsden said that Jamaica is considered a major transshipment hub for fish and fishery products to the wider Caribbean region, and so the burden is on Jamaica, as a first point of entry, to implement a system of verification of products entering its food chain.

To combat food fraud, it is an absolute necessity to introduce traceability, said Marsden. This can now be done electronically, with modern systems of recording, such as the use barcodes, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and other tracking media within the production chain.

In the Dominican Republic, Mateo’s job is to review all the supporting documentation for seafood imports and exports. She has observed, though, that, “Some of these documents might have statements to make the consumers believe that they are getting a high-quality product while they are actually getting products with less quality and deliberate mislabeling.”

An example, she said, is fish from the genus Pangasius, a catfish primarily sourced from the Asian market, which is being sold cheaply in the region and marketed at times as “grouper”—not only at supermarkets but also at some restaurants.

 

Pangasius sometimes passed off as grouper in Caribbean

Vietnam catfish often passed off as grouper in the Caribbean (Photo: VASEP)

 

“While in Iceland, I learned that deliberate mislabeling of food, the substitution of products with cheaper alternatives, and false statements about the origin of foods, are all food fraud,” Mateo said.

“This is relevant to the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean, where imported fish are in some cases marketed at lower prices than the local ones, not only due to the lower production cost of fish products such as tilapia and Pangasius (catfish – sold as ‘basa’ or ‘swai’) in comparison with those produced in the country, but also because of unfair practices in trade,” Mateo said.

She said that as a result of the Iceland training, the Dominican Republic is now in the final stage of building an improved national SPS system for fishery and aquaculture products which was initiated with the support of the government of Chile.

 

Safe and healthy food also vital at home

 

local seafood

Buyers opt for local snapper or imported seafood from the same freezer at a Belize supermarket (Photo: CRFM)

 

Whereas the move to implement SPS measures was originally focused on export trade, regional experts also indicate that they are vital to food safety and health even within our region.

“The Caribbean is known to be a huge importer of food products,” Sosa noted. “We have to look after our population, we have to look after the health of our people, we have to look after the health of our environment and our agricultural products; and thus SPS—although at this point it is mostly the industrialized countries that are pushing it, that are requiring it—should be really and truly across the board.”

Science-based risk assessment and risk analysis of imports are also key in protecting vital agriculture and fisheries industries.

“We have been mandated with the task of being the gatekeepers when it comes to food safety and agricultural health and we take that responsibility very seriously. Sometimes the public will get angry with us, because they truly don’t understand why we are doing this. ‘Why can’t I bring this across the border?’ But the realization is that if a disease [is introduced], it could potentially destroy an entire industry—whether it be, for example, bringing across poultry with avian influenza, or bringing in diseased shrimp—it could wipe out an entire multi-million-dollar industry,” Sosa warned.

 

Positioning small producers for export

 

Grenada fish bacon for export

 

Southern Fishermen's Cooperative in Grenada adds value to fish to produce smoked bacon for export to regional and international markets (Photo: CRFM)

 

Sosa noted that SPS measures were initially geared towards industrial markets but now they are encouraging small producers to position themselves for export by implementing SPS Measures.

“They might not have the finance to construct an elaborate facility, but we can start with the basics,” said Sosa, pointing to “good manufacturing practices and the sanitation standard operating procedures,” which, he said, would build confidence in products from even small producers.

More importantly, he said, implementing SPS measures is the first step that producers will need to make to even think about trading on the world market.

 

 

You may access the VIMEO version of the video here.

Published in Press release

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