Caribbean Fisheries Forum
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| Caribbean Fisheries Forum | |
|---|---|
| Name | Caribbean Fisheries Forum |
| Type | Intergovernmental forum |
| Founded | 1980s |
| Headquarters | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Region served | Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean |
| Membership | Caribbean Community members, associate partners |
Caribbean Fisheries Forum The Caribbean Fisheries Forum is a regional convening body bringing together fisheries managers, marine scientists, policy makers, and civil society from the Caribbean basin. It functions as a platform for coordination among Caribbean Community, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Association of Caribbean States, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and national agencies such as the Fisheries Division (Trinidad and Tobago), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Jamaica), and the Bahamas Department of Marine Resources. The Forum links multilateral initiatives including the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission, Global Environment Facility, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
History
The Forum traces origins to technical meetings convened during the 1980s by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme to address declines in reef fisheries, spiny lobster stocks, and transboundary pelagic fisheries. Early milestones included regional workshops hosted in Barbados, Kingston, Jamaica, and Castries, Saint Lucia, and collaborative projects with the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund. It evolved through formal agreements influenced by the Caribbean Conservation Association and policy signals from the Rio Earth Summit and the Convention on Biological Diversity negotiations.
Organization and Membership
Membership comprises national fisheries departments from states and territories such as Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Guyana, and overseas territories including Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. Associate members and partners include regional institutions like the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, research institutes such as the University of the West Indies and the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies, and donors including the Inter-American Development Bank, European Union, and the World Bank. The Forum operates through technical committees, a steering committee with representatives from the Caribbean Fisheries Institute, and observer participation from NGOs such as the Nature Conservancy and the Caribbean Wildlife Alliance.
Objectives and Activities
Primary objectives align with sustainable harvest strategies, rebuilding depleted stocks, and protecting critical habitats like coral reefs and mangroves. Activities include workshops on stock assessment with experts from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, capacity building with trainers from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and policy dialogues featuring representatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The Forum sponsors training in fisheries enforcement with personnel exchanges involving the Coast Guard of the Bahamas and technical guidance from the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department.
Regional Programs and Projects
Major programs address spiny lobster management, queen conch conservation, and pelagic longline bycatch reduction. Projects have been funded through mechanisms such as the Global Environment Facility and implemented with partners including the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission, and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism. Field initiatives include tagged-population studies in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, community-based management pilots in Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System locales, and coral reef restoration collaborations with the Coral Restoration Foundation.
Policy, Governance, and Cooperation
The Forum facilitates harmonization of regional measures such as seasonal closures, minimum landing sizes, and port state measures influenced by the Port State Measures Agreement. It supports negotiation capacity for legal instruments linked to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and regional fisheries law templates promoted by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat. Cooperative enforcement operations have involved the Caribbean Regional Security System and bilateral arrangements with the United States Coast Guard and the French Navy in the Caribbean.
Research, Data, and Monitoring
Research collaborations connect laboratories and field programs at the University of the West Indies, the University of the West Indies St. Augustine, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA). The Forum encourages adoption of standardized catch reporting aligned with the Food and Agriculture Organization databases and coordinates tagging programs with the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics model adapted for the Atlantic. Monitoring includes stock assessments supported by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea methodologies and data-sharing arrangements with the Caribbean Fisheries Institute and national scientific services.
Challenges and Future Directions
Key challenges include climate-driven shifts in species distributions linked to El Niño–Southern Oscillation events, coral bleaching episodes associated with the 2014–2017 global coral bleaching event, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing highlighted in reports to the United Nations General Assembly, and funding constraints amid competing priorities of donors such as the European Union and multilateral banks. Future directions emphasize blue economy integration with initiatives from the Caribbean Development Bank, enhanced use of remote sensing from programs supported by NOAA, and expanded stakeholder engagement with fisher cooperatives, tourism sectors, and conservation NGOs like the World Wildlife Fund. Continued alignment with regional instruments such as the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism and international agreements including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will shape the Forum’s role in stewardship of Caribbean marine resources.