Minister of Agriculture, Food Production, Fisheries and Rural Development Moses Jn Baptiste will deliver the feature address

“Our future in the Caribbean lies in our ability to develop and use the knowledge, mental capacity, and skills of our people to make the most of our limited resources and negotiate our way in an increasingly complex and competitive global economic environment.”

-- Milton Haughton, CRFM Executive Director

 BELIZE CITY, BELIZE; FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 –

Global warming and sea level rise, fishing pressure and other human activities are among the major challenges facing the region’s fisheries sector today, as it grapples with decreasing fish catch and other threats to the livelihoods of the many people who depend on the small scale fisheries for economic survival.

Fisheries professionals must, therefore, be properly equipped to cope with the new reality, and key players, such as heads of the national fisheries authorities, must build their capacity to provide leadership in the process of transforming the fisheries sector.

It is towards this end that the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), the United Nations University –Fisheries Training Programme (UNU-FTP), the University of Akuyreri, Iceland (UA), and the University of Belize (UB), through funding provided by the Government of Iceland, are convening an Advanced Leadership Training Workshop for senior fisheries officers from 17 CRFM participating member states.

The event takes place from Monday, April 8 to Friday, April 12, 2013 at Palm Haven Hotel, Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, Castries, St. Lucia.

Minister of Agriculture, Food Production, Fisheries and Rural Development Moses Jn Baptiste will deliver the feature address. Deputy Programme of the United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme Thor H. Ásgeirsson and CRFM Secretariat Executive Director Milton Haughton will also deliver remarks.

In speaking of the upcoming training, Haughton notes that, “It is clear that in the Caribbean today we do not have the critical mass of leaders needed to achieve our long-term developmental objectives in respect of fisheries and marine resource governance.”

He said that fisheries and aquaculture are complex and dynamic systems that require creative, innovative and systematic application of scientific knowledge, experience and new mental models to modernize and realize the full potential of the sector.

“Achieving sustainable development and prosperity in our countries depend, to a great degree, on the extent to which we recognize the central role of our people in the development process,” the CRFM Executive Director added. “Our future in the Caribbean lies in our ability to develop and use the knowledge, mental capacity, and skills of our people to make the most of our limited resources and negotiate our way in an increasingly complex and competitive global economic environment.”

Haughton explained that the CRFM’s objective in next week’s regional training workshop in St. Lucia is to ensure that senior fisheries officials from across the region develop new core leadership knowledge and skills, and where appropriate, renew and update their existing expertise, to provide transformational leadership in their departments and the fisheries sector under their portfolio.

“Participants will, therefore, be taught the skills and endowed with confidence to lead their organisations through a process of change, personal growth and self-direction towards greater excellence and performance well beyond present levels,” he concluded.

This training workshop is the second of its kind, and aims to build further on the outcome of the first workshop by providing leadership training to senior level fisheries officials in the CRFM States.

Under a Euro 30 million project funded by the European Union (EU) for projects to improve sustainable and equitable management of fisheries and aquaculture in Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States, fisheries officials from CARIFORUM States are receiving training in the use of modern, cutting-edge, information and communication technology tools in their daily activities. 

“The enhanced use of these modern communication and information sharing tools, such as video-conferencing, social networking, tools for online collaborative document preparation and editing, can result in significant cost savings, increased can result 

in significant cost savings, increased productivity and outputs, as well as boost the earnings and income of fishers, and improve competitiveness and profitability within the fisheries and aquaculture sector,” said Milton Haughton, Executive Director, of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat, at the launch of a three-day regional training on information and knowledge sharing on sustainable fisheries management in the Caribbean.  

Haughton described the regional training workshop, which opened Monday and runs through to Wednesday, as “another significant milestone in our journey to transform the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and enhance its contribution to national economic development.” 

He said that organizers are providing practical training which they hope will improve capacities and lead to greater integration of Information and Communication Technology tools in all areas of the work of fisheries departments and other fisheries organisations in the region. 

“We intend to do a much better job of communicating with each other, informing ourselves, forging a common vision and being more united in what we do, based on wide participation of stakeholders and the public at large,” Haughton added. “This is why the development and implementation of this communication strategy and enhanced use of ICT is so important at this time.”

 The 6^th Meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council held in The Bahamas, June 2012, urged the CRFM Secretariat to strengthen the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to improve the sharing of information and the effectiveness and efficiency in its work.

 PBLH International Consulting SPRL of Brussels, Belgium, is executing the contract to deliver this knowledge sharing project in the Caribbean.

According to Haughton, this week’s training is the 2^nd and final regional fisheries workshop on this subject of information and knowledge sharing and enhanced communication among stakeholders in the fisheries sector.

It builds consensus on the goals and targets for the IT component of the CRFM’s new Communication Strategy which was reviewed and updated this January.

Representatives from the CRFM Secretariat and eleven CARIFORUM states are to participating in the training workshop: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

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Website: http://www.caricom-fisheries.com/

ACP Fish II Programme

ACP FISH II is a demand driven programme financed under the 9^th European Development Fund aiming at strengthening fisheries management in ACP countries. Its overall objective is to contribute to the sustainable and equitable management of fisheries, thus leading to poverty alleviation and improving food security in ACP states. The specific objective is to strengthen fisheries sectoral policy development and implementation in ACP countries.

For further information on the ACP Fish II Programme, please visit: http://www.acpfish2-eu.org.

The ACP Fish II Programme Regional Manager for the Caribbean Region is Sandra Grant (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 011(501) 223 2974)

For More Information

Contact:            

Mr Pablo Lopez-Herrerias - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mrs Justine Schmutz - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mr. Milton Haughton – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Key Information and Communication Technology officers, high-ranking fisheries managers and other public sector fisheries representatives from CARIFORUM member states will be hosted in Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines, next week for a regional training workshop which will focus on information and knowledge-sharing for sustainable fisheries management in the Caribbean.

The training is being organized by PBLH International Consulting SPRL, an independent consulting firm of Brussels, Belgium, on behalf of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM). The CRFM and the ACP Fish II Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU) / ACP Fish II Programme will facilitate the workshop sessions.

The event will be held from Monday, March 25 to Wednesday, March 27, at the National Insurance Services (NIS) Building in Kingstown. St. Vincent’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Saboto Caesar will present the feature address at Monday’s opening. CRFM Secretariat Executive Director Milton Haughton and ACP Fish II Regional Coordinator, Dr. Sandra Grant will also address the gathering.

The CRFM/ACP Fish II Training Workshop, which will have more than 30 participants, will enable fisheries authorities from across the Caribbean region to improve data and knowledge sharing by maximizing the use of newly drafted interactive communication tools as well as an avante-garde website being developed for the CRFM.

The regional training will also provide focused support to the CRFM Secretariat and member states, as they build consensus on document goals and targets for the IT component of the Communication Strategy drafted this January.

Participants will also receive technical assistance on upgrading and maintaining a cutting-edge websites for the national fisheries authorities, while learning to maximise the use of the modern communication facilities and tools, including document editing and sharing, forums/e-groups, and web conferencing—all with the purpose of narrowing the cross-regional space for more effective fisheries collaboration.

This initiative will, thereby, ensure that the CRFM meets the management goals stated in the recently endorsed Agreement Establishing a Common Fisheries Policy.

During the past 4 months, PBLH International Consulting SPRL experts Mr. Yacine Khelladi and Mr. Vladimir Abramytchev have been visiting the Caribbean countries for the project titled, “Strengthening the capacity of CRFM and its member states for information and knowledge sharing on sustainable management of fisheries in the Caribbean region”.

They presented the outputs of their extensive work at a regional technical consultation workshop held January 28-29 in Kingstown. Participants also assisted with the formulation of a new Communication Strategy for the CRFM, which will enable member states to enhance the visibility of their actions, enhance coordination and improve data and information sharing.

Fourteen CRFM member states are expected to participate in the upcoming training: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Dominican Republic also plans to send a representative to the training.

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About the CRFM

The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) was officially inaugurated on 27 March 2003, in Belize City, Belize, where it is headquartered, following the signing of the Agreement Establishing the CRFM on February 4, 2002. It is an inter-governmental organization with its mission being “to promote and facilitate the responsible utilization of the region's fisheries and other aquatic resources for the economic and social benefits of the current and future population of the region”. The CRFM consist of three bodies: the Ministerial Council; the Caribbean Fisheries Forum; and the CRFM Secretariat.

Website: http://www.caricom-fisheries.com/

ACP Fish II Programme

ACP FISH II is a demand driven programme financed under the 9th European Development Fund aiming at strengthening fisheries management in ACP countries. Its overall objective is to contribute to the sustainable and equitable management of fisheries, thus leading to poverty alleviation and improving food security in ACP states. The specific objective is to strengthen fisheries sectoral policy development and implementation in ACP countries.

For further information on the ACP Fish II Programme, please visit: http://www.acpfish2-eu.org.

The ACP Fish II Programme Regional Manager for the Caribbean Region is Sandra Grant(This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 011(501) 223 2974)

For More Information

Contact:

Mr Pablo Lopez-Herrerias - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mrs Justine Schmutz - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mr. Milton Haughton – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CRFM STAFF TRAINING IN BELIZE CITY

Andrew Hill

Olin Myers

The fisheries sector in the CARICOM/CARIFORUM region employs over 182,000 persons, directly or indirectly (CRFM).

A 2012 CRFM Diagnostic Study to Determine Poverty Levels in CARICOM Fisheries Communities found that Belize and Guyana, followed by Grenada and Jamaica, were the countries with the highest percentage of poor and vulnerable households. It also revealed that the percentage of non-poor households is above the 75% with the exception of Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and Grenada.

The nature of the fisheries of the region is varied. It ranges from the shrimp and ground fish stocks off Guyana and Suriname to the pelagic stocks off Trinidad and Tobago. The Region also contains the reef species of the Eastern Caribbean, and the conch and lobster stocks of Jamaica, The Bahamas and Belize. The migratory pelagic such as wahoo, tuna, flying fish and dolphin fish typically roam through the area (CRFM).

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Regional fisheries data compiled by CRFM Communications in September 2012. (Press Packet Data)