CARICOM Fisheries stakeholders hailed as a success, the just concluded workshop in Saint Lucia to validate a Regional Master Plan for sustainable development of coastal fisheries resources in the Region. Participants numbered approximately 50 and included senior officials from the Fisheries Departments and Representatives of regional fisheries as well as representatives from regional, and Inter-governmental Organizations and Institutions that have an interest in fisheries and aquaculture development.

As part of the data improvement activity being implemented for the two case study consultancies, field visits were undertaken to Barbados, St. Lucia and Tobago to attempt to locate and retrieve historical data on the flyingfish and dolphinfish fisheries, and also to interview fishers to validate current data, information and knowledge of the two fisheries, and in the case of flyingfish fishery, also identify priority areas of management given multiple objectives and by this means, also identify priority areas for data review and improvement. 

 During June to December 2011, data improvement work on flyingfish will continue. This will involve continued and expanded field work in 3 flyingfish countries, in order to ensure a regional focus. Additional fisher and fisheries division staff interviews would be conducted to: (i) strengthen the present identification of management objective priorities for flyingfish (increase the present sample size); (ii) understand the expectation of how these objectives are to be operationalized; and (iii) gather and prioritize the necessary additional data that could be used as indicators of performance of the priority management objectives.

 Note: Further information on the CLME Project can be found at http://www.clme.iwlearn.org

Work also continues under the data management pilot projects in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Guyana, with national training workshops in CARIFIS having been conducted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Statistical data is also being collected through visits to landings sites, etc. in both countries involved in this pilot.

 A National Training Workshop for small-scale and subsistent fish farmers was convened in Jamaica from 22 to 24 February 2011. This Workshop was followed by the First Regional Aquaculture Development Planning Workshop, also convened in Jamaica from 14 to 21 March 2011. Representatives from the six (6) CRFM Member States - Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, participated in the Workshop, which provided training in project cycle management, including problem analysis and planning, and assisted in the preparation of draft action plans for sustainable aquaculture development for the respective countries.

 The Second Regional Aquaculture Development Planning Workshop is scheduled to be held during 29 - 31 August 2011 in Jamaica.  The objective of the Second Workshop is to receive and review (i) the Progress Reports which set out the steps taken, including any difficulties encountered, to develop the Revised Draft Aquaculture Development Action Plan; (ii) the Revised Draft Aquaculture Development Action Plans (including the project design matrix (PDM) and plan of operation (PO) which would have been modified and refined by consultations and discussion with stakeholders in respective countries; and (iii) the Progress Report and Results of Pilot Projects on aquaculture development in Belize (testing of different feeds for selected species in extensive aquaculture) and Jamaica (training and extension with small-scale fish culture).

During the months of November and December 2010, the Regional Project Coordinator undertook monitoring missions to the ten selected Member States involved in the Study.  The main purpose of these visits was to observe and participate in the field and data management activities, including data transmission to the Consultants, Tragsatec.  During the visits, the RPC also made a presentation about the Study to the staff of the Fisheries Divisions / Departments as well as other invited stakeholders and collected copies of any promotional materials that would have been used to inform stakeholders and the general public about the Study.  The field survey and data input and transmission to the Consultants, Tragsatec, has now been completed.  Data analysis is currently being conducted and the Diagnostic Study Report prepared.  A regional workshop to review the findings of the survey is being planned for October 2011.

Under PE1, one regional and three national projects were undertaken. The objective of the regional project Finalization of the Common Fisheries Policy was to complete a draft CFP for the Caribbean Community for submission to the CARICOM Heads of Government for consideration. To this end, a multidisciplinary workshop was convened in Guyana during 12-14 April 2011. The Meeting provided an opportunity for members of the group to discuss and clarify concerns; negotiate and arrive at agreement on the content of the draft agreement; propose working for the provisions of the draft agreement; and complete the draft agreement for submission to the Ministerial Council for consideration. The Multidisciplinary Workshop produced a negotiated Draft Agreement on the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy.

 The national projects were:

 1.      Fisheries data enhancement project, Dominica – The objectives were: (i) to extract useful historic data contained in an obsolete database and put them in a useable format for easy access and analysis; (ii) to provide training for 4 members of staff; and (iii) to recommend an effective data management and archiving system.

 2.      Develop and air 3 television and 6 radio clips, Saint Lucia - The objectives of this project were to develop and air television and radio clips to promote awareness of critical aspects relevant to fisheries conservation and sustainable use. 

 3.      Production of a 15-minute documentary, Trinidad and Tobago - The objective of this project was the production and airing of a 15-minute documentary to increase public awareness on the proposed changes in fisheries management in Trinidad and Tobago.

 The First Programme Monitoring Workshop was convened in Belize from 4 to 5 April 2011, to review the status of implementation of projects funded under the first phase from June 2009 to May 2011; formulate Terms of Reference / plans for projects to be implemented under the second phase (June 2011 to November 2012) and agreed on the implementation plan; and share lessons learned and experiences of project implementation to-date.