Spiny Lobster
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St. George’s, Grenada - Fisheries Ministers
from Member States of the Caribbean Regional
Fisheries Mechanism
(CRFM) are expected to sign off on the Declaration
on Spiny Lobster by way of a resolution, when they convene the 9th Meeting
of the Ministerial Council of the CRFM on Friday, 15 May 2015 at Flamboyant
Hotel in St. George's, Grenada.
The non-binding declaration establishes a
roadmap for closer cooperation among the 17 CARICOM/CRFM States to ensure
long-term conservation and sustainable use of the lobster resources.
The Ministerial Council meeting is scheduled
to open at 9:00 a.m. The feature address will be delivered by Honourable Roland
Bhola, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment,
Grenada, who will assume the chairmanship of the Council on the occasion of the
meeting from Honourable Johnson Drigo, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries,
Dominica.
Milton Haughton, Executive Director of the
CRFM Secretariat in Belize, said:
“This
is another important policy-level meeting of the CRFM Member States as they
seek to strengthen cooperative arrangements, to realize the full development
potential of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in the region.
“Our
vision and long-term goal is to transform the region’s fisheries and
aquaculture into sustainable systems, in order to optimize the sector’s
contribution to food and nutritional security, improved livelihoods and wealth
generation, through the application of science and technology, good governance,
and inclusive, sustainable development
strategies.”
When they meet this Friday, the Caribbean
Fisheries Ministers will be reviewing the progress being made in the implementation
of existing policy instruments and programs. In charting the way forward, they
will also make decisions on the next steps in the transformation process.
High on their agenda will be the endorsement
of the process now underway to develop the Plan of Action to facilitate the implementation
of the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP).
The Fisheries Ministers will also discuss an
initiative recently announced by the Government of the United States during the
Caribbean Energy Summit on climate risk insurance for the Caribbean fisheries
sector. This is in line with efforts to achieve Climate Smart Food Security
(CSFS) using a Risk Insurance Facility (RIF).
The Ministerial Council will finally receive
a full report on the outcome and recommendations of the 13th Meeting
of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum, held in St. George’s, Grenada at the end of
March this year.
The Ministerial Council of the CRFM is the
arm of the CRFM which has primary responsibility for determining the policies
of the organisation, resource allocation, cooperative agreements, and related
decision-making.
