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.”