CRFM and the OECS strengthen collaboration with signing of a new MoU

The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) sealed its first bilateral accord with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

The signing was executed during the Sixteenth Special Meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council held in Saint Kitts and Nevis during the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA)—an annual event convened by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.

A release from CRFM sid Dr Marc Williams, Executive Director of the CRFM Secretariat, and Dr Didacus Jules, Director General of the OECS, signed the MoU.

Dr Williams hails the MoU as a pivotal instrument for solidifying and strengthening the established relationship between the CRFM and the OECS, eight of whose members are also members of the CRFM. These countries are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“For many years, the CRFM and the OECS have collaborated on initiatives to support their respective Member States…,” Dr Williams is quoted in the release as stating.

“ The informal relationship has worked well for both the CRFM and the OECS, but there is a need to establish official relations. As a result, the signing of the MoU will initiate a collaboration that will guide and formalize cooperation between the CRFM and the OECS for the execution of related and relevant activities in specific areas of fisheries-related matters.”

Dr Jules said that the MoU, which spans 2025 to 2028, “represents bringing the collaboration between the OECS and the CRFM to a whole new level. It covers governance and management of fisheries, providing support for further integration in the Blue Economy sector… building resilience, harmonization of safety at sea programmes, insurance products for fishers, making available information and guidance to support fisheries research, and joint research initiatives, economic development for fisherfolk and communities…focusing on empowerment of youth and women in the fisheries value chain, agriculture and fisheries linkages, trade markets and business development”.