BELIZE CITY ― The 22ndMeeting of the Executive Committee of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM)―which has over the past two days been deliberating on matters such as coral reef management, the lobster fishery, and cooperation between CARICOM States and the French Island in fisheries―concluded today in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The CRFM Executive Committee consists of representatives of 6 member states of the regional inter-governmental fisheries organization. The membership of the committee is drawn from the Caribbean Fisheries Forum, a group of government officials, fishers and representatives of private companies from CRFM states tasked with providing technical support to the CRFM.

“The Committee addressed a number of important regional initiatives designed to ensure sustainable use of our fisheries resources and protect the marine ecosystems,” said Milton Haughton, CRFM Executive Director.

During the course of this week's meeting, the Executive Committee also worked on a legal instrument to strengthen regional cooperation for the conservation, management and sustainable use of the spiny lobster and the protection of its habitat, Haughton added.

The CRFM Executive Committee has been meeting since 2003. It holds inter-sessional meetings twice a year between sittings of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum, as its principal mission is to advance the Forum's work using a consensus-building approach.