Tue, Oct 16, 2012

BELIZE CITY, Belize:- Fourteen Caribbean fisheries professionals on Friday concluded the first Fisheries Law and Management Training Workshop, developed jointly for them by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat and the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security (ANCORS).{{more}}

Participants came from Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Suriname, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The five-week training workshop covered several subjects including, sustainable fisheries management, law of the sea, international fisheries, trade, marine environmental law, and monitoring, control and surveillance to eradicate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Prior to the conclusion of the training, representatives of the CRFM and ANCORS inked a five-year memorandum of understanding, geared at fostering research collaboration and strengthening capacity development in the Caribbean region.

The objectives of the MOU are to identify and implement joint research opportunities and to develop further capacity-building training opportunities.

In line with the MOU, the parties have agreed on joint activities to be carried out over the next 12 months.

In 2013, a senior ANCORS staff member will travel to the CRFM Secretariat in Belize City for a one-day follow-up workshop, and will visit one to three other priority CARICOM states, facilitated by CRFM, to provide further post-workshop support.