The Updated Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (2024) was approved by the Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism at its Eighteenth Regular Meeting held Friday, 26 April 2024.

The Fourteenth Inter-sessional Meeting of the CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government, held in Trinidad and Tobago on 14 - 15 February 2003, mandated the elaboration of a Common Fisheries Policy and Regime for the Caribbean Community. Subsequently, on 20 May 2011, the Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) approved the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP) during its Fourth Meeting held in St. Mary’s, Antigua and Barbuda. Support for the policy was granted by the Seventy-first Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) – Agriculture, held at Georgetown, Guyana, which designated the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism as the Competent Agency for the CCCFP.

This version of the CCCFP contains the 23 original articles and four protocols approved by the Ministerial Council and COTED:

1. 1. 1. The Protocol on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries as the First Protocol under the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy;
      2. The Protocol on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management in Fisheries and Aquaculture under the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy with the changes proposed by the Council;
      3. The Protocol on Aquatic Foods as a Strategic Resource for Food and Nutrition Security under the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy; and
      4. The Protocol under the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy on the Principle of Sustainable Use of Marine Living Resources for Blue Economic Growth and Sustainable Development of CRFM Member States.

At its meeting in April 2024, the Council urged all organs of the CRFM and its Member States to continue their collective efforts, in collaboration with regional and international development partners, to advance the implementation of the CCCFP, as well as the development of any and all additional protocols necessary to attain its stated vision and purpose.

To access the document, click here.