Common fisheries policy 'only way forward'

Headline:Common fisheries policy 'only way forward'

DIFFICULT CHALLENGES stand in the way of a common fisheries policy for the Caribbean, but stakeholders have been told it is the only way forward for the social and economic development as well as competitiveness of the region's fishing industry.

Discussing the topic Caribbean Fisheries: Sinking Or Swimming In A Sea Of Uncertainty at the Fisheries Division last week, Milton Haughton, deputy executive director of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), outlined some of the difficulties encountered by the CRFM in formulating a policy that represented the interests of all involved.

The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus and the CRFM organised the panel discussion, which brought together Barbados' Ambassador to CARICOM Denis Kellman; chairman of the Co-ordinating Unit for the Regional Fisherfolk Network, Mitchell Lay; senior lecturer in the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies and project manager for the MarGov Project, Dr Patrick McConney, while Haughton represented the CRFM.

Common policy

Haughton said his organisation was mandated by Heads of Government in 2003 to develop a common fisheries policy "to transform the sector" and to ensure that the region got sustainable social and economic benefits from these resources.

After five years, Haughton said, the policy was still "a work in progress".

Meanwhile, Lay complained about the lack of CRFM consultation with fisherfolk. He said "fishers on the whole throughout the region" were "not well aware of what a common fisheries policy is about".