On 4 December 2020, CRFM’s Continental Shelf Fisheries Working Group (CSWG), supported by over 20 national, regional and international fisheries experts, commended both Guyana and Suriname for their organized approaches to sustainable management of the countries’ Atlantic seabob (shrimp) trawl fisheries. These seabob trawl fisheries are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which recognizes good standards in fisheries management practices. The MSC label gives Guyana’s and Suriname’s seabob products the competitive edge on the international market!

The regional peer expert group reviewed the progress made on management plans, with special attention being given to how the countries were addressing MSC conditions and recommendations, and piloting agreed new harvest control rules adopted in 2019. The countries were also commended for their active engagement with private sector partners for management cooperation, and with the regional and international NGO and donor communities for research support.

A strong commendation came from the National Coordinator for the REBYC-II LAC[1] project in Suriname, Dr. Tomas Willems. Willems remarked that “It is great to see Suriname and Guyana working together on the management of their seabob fisheries, exchanging information and lessons learned, and jointly tackling research and stock assessment. Assuming that stocks of many more species are potentially shared among the countries of the Guianas - North-Brazil shelf, the seabob fishery provides an important example of how cross-border collaboration can look like in practice.”

During the review of 4 December, both Suriname and Guyana, were able to demonstrate well organized plans and approaches for guiding their seabob trawl fishery management activities. The two countries did highlight some delays and disruptions to their activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The industry pointed out that the pandemic had affected its operations as well. The Working Group meeting heard that Suriname had to extend the pilot trial period for the harvest control rule to allow for more comprehensive evaluation of performance of the rule through the natural fluctuations of catches through time, that is, through both low and high seabob production months. Notwithstanding, the pilot trials had allowed Suriname to adjust and refine its systems and procedures for data and information management to cope with the monthly monitoring of catch rates and estimations of the harvest control rule index. The outputs were then used to determine if and by how much the industry would have to adjust its fishing effort levels over time. Guyana had not yet begun pilot trials of its harvest control rule, but indicated that such trials would begin in 2021.

During the review, some key issues of concern were raised in respect of the harvest control rule application and of the catch rate data. If the harvest control rule required industry adjustment actions, the time lag for action was 2 months, but the industry indicated that this time lag may in fact be too long. The Working Group recalled that the best available data and science were applied to the 2019 assessments, and also recalled that its 2019 meeting had identified certain additional data and information, which if made available, could help to improve the quality of the catch rate estimation and, in turn, the quality of seabob assessment results and associated harvest control rules.

In conclusion, the Working Group commended the countries for their planning, monitoring, and reporting efforts, and for the completed harvest control rule trials. The Working Group also agreed to convene a meeting early in 2021, which would devote attention to data and information improvements for the next full seabob stock assessment.

The Continental Shelf Working Group Meeting was chaired by CRFM’s Deputy Executive Director, Susan Singh-Renton. Singh-Renton noted that “In 2019, the CRFM responded to a request by both Guyana and Suriname for regional coordination and peer review of scientific assessments of the seabob shrimp stocks fished by their trawl fisheries. The scientific assessments were successfully facilitated by CRFM’s Continental Shelf Fisheries Working Group, which then also agreed to keep under review the implementation of agreed inter-sessional activities, and this work is ongoing. The inter-sessional activities have been planned to ensure that all the MSC conditions and recommendations are fully met”.

Photo Caption: Seabob trawler operating off the coast of Suriname (Photo Credit: Tomas Willems, National Coordinator for the REBYC-II LAC project in Suriname)

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[1] REBYC-II LAC project is the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation supported Project entitled, “Sustainable Management of Bycatch in Latin America and Caribbean Trawl Fisheries”

Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified nationals of the CARICOM/CRFM Member States to fill the position of Deputy Executive Director,  Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat with assigned duty station in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Full details of the position may be obtained by clicking “Job Vacancy” or by clicking the attachments below.

Applications in English Language with full curriculum details including nationality, work experience, educational qualifications, summary of professional skills and/or expertise, language proficiency, list of professional publications, contact information (including e-mail addresses) of three referees (at least two of whom must be familiar with the applicant’s work), and other relevant information, should be addressed to:

        Executive Director, CRFM Secretariat, Belize City, P.O. Box 642, Belize and sent by   email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The deadline for the submission of applications is 15 January 2021. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted in February 2021 to arrange interviews. The position will remain open until filled.

 The CRFM Secretariat is soliciting Calls for Expressions of Interest under the CLME+ Flyingfish Sub-Project for the following assignments:

(i)  Technical support for printing and dissemination of Eastern Caribbean Flyingfish Fishery Management Plan 2020 - 2025 and ancillary public relations items (Deadline for submission of EIO: 23rd November 2020 at 3:00p.m. (GMT-6))

(ii) Technical Support to effect the application of impact assessment tools for the outputs of the  CLME+ flyingfish sub-project in the following Flyingfish countries (Deadline for submission of EIO: 16th November 2020 at 3:00p.m. (GMT-6))

 - Barbados

- Dominica
- Grenada
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago

The completed Proposals must be submitted within the deadline stipulated. Proposals are to be submitted electronically to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and copied to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  as  indicated in the Calls for Expressions of Interest.

The email subject line should indicate the EOI Reference.

Calls for Expressions of Interest can be accessed here for detail information.  The CRFM Flyingfish Impact Assessment Tool is to be used in carrying out the Impact Assessment for assignment (ii)

A rapid assessment conducted by the CRFM Secretariat during May 2020, suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant threat to livelihoods in the fisheries sector and to food security. It appears that as a result of the safety measures put in place to stem the spread of the virus, the supply chain has been impacted in various ways including: disruptions in air/sea freight, transportation logistics, and processing; reduced access to fish and seafood, and inadequate storage facilities. The reduced demand has directly affected fisherfolk livelihoods, and the majority of fisherfolk have been unable to meet living expenses due to reduced incomes.

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The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) generates an incredible amount of data and information for improving fisheries management in the CRFM sub-region, and is a known regional leader and example in strengthening the divides among science, policy and practice through sharing of knowledge to speed up the uptake of best practices.

The CRFM Portal is the doorway to CRFM’s growing and special regional pool of data, information and knowledge, packaged in a user-friendly format for use by all stakeholders, whatever your interests!

The CRFM is co-implementing the marine sub-component of the Caribbean Regional Track of the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (Caribbean PPCR), which itself is implemented by the Mona Office for Research and Innovation (MORI) at the University of the West Indies with grant funding from the Climate Investment Fund through the Inter-American Development Bank.

The Caribbean PPCR marine sub-component has been extremely successful so far in generating valuable information about climate change impacts on the fisheries sector. It has also facilitated the creation of a fisher-centric ICT solution, titled Fisheries Early Warning and Emergency Response (FEWER). Outreach activities have been an important inclusion for the marine sub-component, involving fishers and other industry stakeholders in the 6 Caribbean PPCR pilot countries (Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines). This has involved raising strong awareness and increasing engagement about how and what responses to climate change should be immediately explored to protect the industry’s interests.

Susan Singh-Renton, Deputy Executive Director with the CRFM Secretariat and CRFM’s coordinator for the Caribbean PPCR’s marine activities, pointed out that “Keeping the enthusiasm and momentum will be crucial for these 6 beneficiary countries, and this means ensuring that the products are used effectively in adaptation planning so that our fishing industries can continue to perform socially and economically in the face of a changing climate. The CRFM Portal is designed to allow broad user access to datasets, information and knowledge products generated by the CRFM marine sub-component of the Caribbean PPCR, but the Portal is also being used to store products from other major CRFM projects, and national project products, as needed.”

To do just that and to help countries and the region make the best use of the new CRFM Portal, project activities recently included a face to face training session in October 2019 for beneficiary country and regional fisheries experts who are expected to be the first and most frequent users of the Portal.

Having completed the training on the use of the Portal, June Masters, who is the Statistics and Information Analyst at the CRFM Secretariat, noted that “Information and tools generated under the Caribbean PPCR marine sub-component are new information which the region needs to inform and guide adaptation and resilience in Caribbean fisheries to a changing climate. It is therefore important that this information be readily available to not just fisheries scientists but to all stakeholders and the general public. The Portal makes this possible and convenient, as it is a one-stop point that houses all the information and tools generated under the Caribbean PPCR marine sub-component. It is also easily accessed via the CRFM website.”

Jimena Eyzaguirre, Senior Climate Change Adaptation Specialist for ESSA Technologies Ltd., the supporting entity for creating the CRFM Portal, congratulated the CRFM Secretariat in promoting information sharing on climate change and fisheries and in developing a standardized climate change monitoring framework for the sector, and added that “An important message emerging from our work with the CRFM is that no matter current levels of capacity, countries in the region are willing and able to begin increasing the sector’s resilience to climate change.” According to Tim Webb, ESSA’s Database Design and Development Expert, speaking from a technical standpoint, “Exposure to R and GIS software provided to national fisheries officers as part of project training activities, taken together with ready access to spatial data through the CRFM Portal, show promise in bolstering analytical capabilities in the region.”

Singh-Renton is encouraging everyone to visit and make full use of the CRFM Portal, saying “We appreciate that users can include fishers, fisheries managers, planners, advisors, policy makers, scientists and the general public, and so the CRFM Portal has something for everyone.”