Introduction

Financed by the European Union, this six-year project has been designed to extend to four other Caribbean ACP countries (the Bahamas, Suriname, Haiti and the Dominican Republic) the benefits which the original 12 CARICOM countries have been obtaining from CFRAMP, and for all 16 countries to benefit from areas such as fisheries surveillance and enforcement, marketing, processing and training.

Background

Objectives:

Within the context of the Integrated Caribbean Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Development (ICRAFD) Programme, the overall objective of this project is the optimal utilization and sustainable management of marine fisheries resources in CARIFORUM countries.

Purposes:

To strengthen fisheries planning and management capacity of national fisheries departments in CARIFORUM countries. These Departments are responsible for formulating fishery policies, elaborating plans and implementing programmes. To do this well, they require reliable and timely information on the structure and performance of the sector and the status of the resoures.

To enhance the effective participation and support of fishers’ communities in the planning and management process of the fishing industries for the sustainable use of the coastal and marine fishery resources. Good fisheries policies and programmes must start from the bottom, hence the importance of understanding their perspectives, constraints and priorities.

Expected Results and Beneficiaries

The successful completion of the Project is expected to produce the following results:

A functional administrative office in Belize City: This office will provide back-up planning and networking activities, will develop good working relationship with the Caricom Fisheries Unit (CFU), EU office in Belize, the Deputy Regional Authorizing Officer, and the 4 national fisheries administrations.

Analysis and diagnosis of national fisheries institutions and industries: Institutional strengths and weaknesses will have been identified, and activities initiated to address the priority institutional strengthening and training needs. A database with detailed information on the fisheries sector will be established with each national fisheries administrative entity of the 4 countries.

Formal and informal training program in process: At least 4 degree and 12 diploma-level students will be enrolled in formal training programs. At least 200 fishermen will participate in planning and training workshops. Dialogue between representatives of fishing communities and governments will be in process to address the most pressing problems of fisheries development.

Proposals for: elaborating regional fisheries policies; coordinating regional fisheries surveillance; improving fisheries management schemes; and improving post-harvest handling, processing and marketing of fish and fishery products.

The primary beneficiary of the project are the fishing communities and households whose main source of livelihood, i.e. employment, income, food and nutrition and empowerment, depend on the quantity and quality of the fisheries resources. The national fisheries institutions will also benefit in terms of improvement of staffing, relevant information and databases, and financial resources, which will enable them to get closer to reaching their mission. The national governments, economy and the society at large, will also be assisted indirectly due to the increased employment, income and resource conservation benefits.