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| The Caribbean Fisheries Forum is the main advisory body of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), an institution of CARICOM set up in 2003 to develop, manage and conserve the fisheries resources of this region. | |
PARAMARIBO, Suriname, May 8, 2008 - The countries of the Caribbean continue to press ahead in establishing a common fisheries zone for this region.
The establishment of a common fisheries zone falls within the Common Fisheries Policy and Regime (CFP&R) agreement, which will be one of the topics up for discussion Thursday and Friday when national fisheries authorities from across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) meet in Paramaribo, Suriname, for the Sixth Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum.
The Caribbean Fisheries Forum is the main advisory body of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), an institution of CARICOM set up in 2003 to develop, manage and conserve the fisheries resources of this region.
The CFP&R is currently in draft form, but efforts are ongoing to have it finalised for approval by CARICOM's Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).
As currently set out in the CFP&R agreement, the common fisheries zone is being established to allow CARICOM states and other non-CARICOM Caribbean states that are associate members of the CRFM, to collaborate in the conservation, management, development and use of all sea life that lie within the zone. This extends to the processing, marketing and trade of these shared fisheries resources.
The zone will be made up of the waters shared by the countries of CARICOM that lie beyond each country's territorial waters.
Once the zone is established, the CRFM, as the implementing agency for the CFP&R agreement, would have the authority to restrict harvesting of fishes that are overexploited or nearly fully exploited. The CRFM would also have the say over which fishes can be harvested for commercial purposes and what fishing vessels would be allowed into the zone. Fishermen from countries whose exclusive economic zone forms part of the common fisheries zone, will still be allowed to maintain their traditional fishing patterns, but only if licensed by their respective national fisheries authority.
The lack of a consensus on the agreement, which was first drafted in 2004, is due in part to the common fisheries zone remaining a sticking point among the CARICOM nations.
There remains continuing debate over how many miles offshore should be the starting point for the zone and some countries have flat out refused to cede authority over their exclusive economic zone to a third party - in this case the CRFM - especially when it comes to catching and fishing limits.
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