From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Bahamas to chair upcoming Flyingfish ministerial meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad
Feb 22, 2013 - 10:42:11 AM
Belize City, Belize; Thursday, February 21, 2013 – On Friday, 22 February 2013, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) will convene a meeting of seven Caribbean countries currently harvesting the Eastern Caribbean flyingfish (scientific name: Hirundichthys affinis), in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to review governance and management issues that require immediate attention.
The ministers, who make up the CRFM Ministerial Sub- Committee on Flyingfish, are also expected to provide guidance to the participating States, the Caribbean Fisheries Forum and CRFM Secretariat on the way forward.
According to a CRFM research report, “...the flyingfish has been
recognised as the single most important small pelagic species in the
southern Lesser Antilles.”
At Friday’s Port of Spain meeting, to be
chaired by The Bahamas, the ministers responsible for fisheries are
expected to review and adopt the Minutes of the First Meeting of the
CRFM Ministerial Sub- Committee on Flyingfish, held on 18 October 2012
in Antigua and Barbuda; and discuss arrangements for strengthening
cooperation with the French Caribbean Islands in the management of the
flyingfish fishery.
They will also receive updates on the ongoing
CLME Project to improve governance and management of shared fisheries
resources in the region and on national consultations on the Draft
Fisheries Management Plan for the flyingfish fisheries.
Funding for
the event has been provided by the GEF under through the Caribbean Large
Marine Ecosystem (CLME) Flyingfish Case Study being implement by the
CRFM.
The goal of the CRFM is to promote the sustainable use of
fisheries and aquaculture resources in and among Member States, by the
development, management and conservation of these resources in
collaboration with stakeholders, to benefit the people of the Caribbean
region.
The Ministerial Council is one of three CRFM organs, and
its primary responsibility is determining the policies of the CRFM,
developing cooperative agreements for resource management, and related
decision-making.
A CRFM flyingfish report with data can be accessed HERE
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