BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 30, 2012

Technical and ministerial officials from Central America and the Caribbean are due to begin arriving in Belize on Sunday for a historic high-level meeting of two very prominent regional fisheries organizations, as they forge a new synergism of collaborative action to more effectively manage and develop the shared fisheries resources which span their territorial waters and which even migrate well beyond.

The Government of Belize, which proposed a joint meeting between the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) and the Organization for Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Central American Isthmus (OSPESCA), is hosting the event, which will take place at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel in Belize City, from Monday, September 3 to Tuesday, September 4, 2012.

The talks are expected to result in a Statement of Outcome from the ministers, an action plan and strategy for the new collaboration, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the organizations.

Key topics to be addressed at the meeting are Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and fishing communities, as well as the coordinated management of the lionfish and other invasive marine species.

James Azueta, Belize Fisheries Officer and Ecosystems Management Unit Coordinator, told Amandala today that so far, representatives from 22 of the 24 member countries have confirmed their participation in the upcoming meeting, and ministers will arrive in Belize over the course of Sunday and Monday next week. He told us that representatives of the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystems (CLME) project as well as the United Nations agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, are also expected to be in Belize for the event.

The CRFM-OSPESCA meeting comes following a formal declaration made by heads of state of the countries in Central America and the Caribbean who converged in San Salvador, El Salvador, last August for the 3rd CARICOM-SICA Summit. In their joint declaration, they called on Belize, the host country for the CRFM Secretariat and the only country that has membership in both CRFM and OSPESCA, to host the first joint high-level ministerial meeting aimed at strengthening collaboration between the two regional fisheries organizations.

Belize’s Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development, Lisel Alamilla said, “We share a common resource in the Wider Caribbean region and therefore must foster a common understanding for cooperation in the responsible development of this sector, in maintaining its place as a significant contributor to our national economies and in the livelihoods of our people.”

Data contained in the latest statistical compilation produced by the FAO, its 2010 Yearbook published in 2012, indicate that Belize’s volume of capture fisheries production ranks 2nd among the countries to participate in next week’s meeting, topped by only Panama. Together, the countries are reported to have produced nearly 700,000 tons of fish, crustaceans and other fisheries produce from their capture fisheries in 2010. The scale of the fisheries is mostly small-scale and artisanal, although there is some production from commercial fishing activities in deep water and on the High Seas.

The CRFM underscores the need to strengthen collaboration between these two regional fisheries organizations to improve conservation, management and sustainable development of the shared, straddling and migratory fisheries resources of the Caribbean Sea and the wider Atlantic.

As a part of its work, the CRFM promotes the coordinated management of the region’s highly migratory species, such as tuna and tuna-like species (blackfin and bullet tuna), dolphinfish, wahoo, cero and king mackerel, billfish, blue marlin, sharks, and others. One of the greatest constraints the region faces is the fact that proper data on these species is lacking, and countries are urged to share information they may have to foster management efforts.

“The similar mandates and objectives of both organizations highlight the potential benefits of sharing scientific knowledge and experiences related to research, resource management, and policy coordination in fisheries and aquaculture development,” CRFM collaborators for next week’s meeting say.

The overall intent of the high-level ministerial meeting falls within the ambit of the work of both regional organizations, the CRFM and OSPESCA: that is, the promotion of cooperation and policy coordination in addressing trans-boundary fisheries matters.

Day 1 of the meeting, Monday, will feature technical discussions, as vice ministers, permanent secretaries, chief executive officers, directors of fisheries and chief fisheries officers from across Central America and the Caribbean will discuss “priority areas and modalities for strengthening the partnership and advancing the interests of the CARICOM and SICA member states.”

Subsequently, they will draft a Statement of Outcome, which the respective Fisheries Ministers will be asked to finalize and adopt when they meet on Tuesday.

Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development, Wendell Parham, is expected to welcome the guests at opening ceremonies on Monday morning. V. Alfred Gray, Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local Government in the Bahamas, who is chair of the CRFM’s Ministerial Council, will present remarks for CARICOM, while Danilo Rosales Pichardo, vice-minister of the Nicaraguan Fisheries Institute (INPESCA), will present remarks as the pro-tem chair of OSPESCA for Central America.

The keynote speech is to be delivered by Belize Fisheries Minister Lisel Alamilla.