Fisheries Ministers meet for 13th Council Meeting on Thursday and Friday in St Kitts and Nevis
BELIZE CITY, BELIZE, Wednesday, 12 June 2019 (CRFM)—Caribbean Fisheries Ministers will assemble on Thursday and Friday of this week, from 13-14 June, at the Marriott Resort in Frigate Bay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, for the 13th Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM).
On the occasion of the Council Meeting, Honourable Eugene Hamilton, Minister of Agriculture, Health, National Health Insurance, Human Settlements, Community Development, Gender Affairs, Social Services, Land and Cooperatives, will assume chairmanship of the Council from Montserrat’s Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Lands, Housing and the Environment, Honourable David Osborne.
The main proceedings of the Council Meeting will be preceded by the 3rd Meeting of the Ministerial Sub-Committee on the Flyingfish Fishery in the Eastern Caribbean. Thereafter, the Council will deliberate upon the state of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in the Caribbean region, and review status and trends in order to inform their decisions and policies at both the regional and national levels.
The Ministers will consider several recommendations arising from the 17th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum, held in March in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Forum provides technical leadership to the CRFM and scientific advice to the Ministerial Council. The Council, on the other hand, is the chief decision- and policy-making arm of the Mechanism.
At the upcoming two-day annual meeting, the Ministers will take a critical look at challenges confronting the fisheries and aquaculture sector, but more importantly at the interventions needed to effectively confront them.
The Executive Director of the CRFM, Milton Haughton said, “This meeting will address ongoing efforts to improve resilience in fishing communities and to adapt to climate change; combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing; improve conservation and management of fisheries resources and ecosystems; strengthen systems for evidence-based decision making; respond to the Sargassum inundation affecting the fisheries sector; promote the blue economy and strengthen partnerships with development partners and donors.”
The last regular meeting of the Council was hosted in May 2018 in Montserrat. The Council also meets for a Special Meeting during the Caribbean Week of Agriculture, convened around October each year.
Photo CAPTION: Honourable Eugene Hamilton, Minister of Agriculture, Health, National Health Insurance, Human Settlements, Community Development, Gender Affairs, Social Services, Land and Cooperatives, Saint Kitts and Nevis (left) and Mr. Milton Haughton, Executive Director of the CRFM.
ABOUT THE CRFM
The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) was officially inaugurated on March 27, 2003, in Belize City, Belize, where it is headquartered, following the signing of the “Agreement Establishing the CRFM” on February 4, 2002. It is an inter-governmental organization whose mission is “to promote and facilitate the responsible utilization of the region’s fisheries and other aquatic resources for the economic and social benefits of the current and future population of the region.”
