Hon Karl Samuda, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, speaking at the opening ceremony of the 15th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum held at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on March 30. At right is the outgoing chairman of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum Denzil Roberts. Participants in the two-day forum include heads of national fisheries authorities from the 17 member states of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, observers and partner agencies.
The establishment of measurable targets, greater use of technology, value-added and innovation are among the strategies Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Karl Samuda has identified as strategies for the sustainable growth and expansion of the fisheries sector in the Caribbean.
Speaking at the 15th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum in Kingston Thursday (March 30), Minister Samuda urged the heads of fisheries authorities from the 17 member states of the Caribbean Region Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) to collaborate to solve the various challenges confronting the fisheries sector across the region.
He told the technocrats to collaborate, share ideas for research and development, the application of technology, diversification of products and expansion of markets to achieve sustainable development and management of Caribbean fisheries resources.
As an example, Minister Samuda said, the use of proper packaging and branding could add up to 60% greater value to the fisheries products. He also identified the use of material such as conch shells and fish skins to create by-products as innovative ways of using the “whole fish” in the industry.
The two-day meeting in Kingston is aimed at updating on the progress of technical activities being undertaken by the regional body and preparing recommendations on the way forward for consideration by the Ministerial Council that will meet on the 19th of May in Guyana.
The Caribbean Fisheries Forum, one of three bodies of the CRFM, is charged with the responsibility of providing technical leadership to the CRFM, including the provision of scientific advice to the Ministerial Council.
The CRFM was established by a Treaty signed by the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community at their 13th Inter-sessional Meeting in Belize City, on February 4, 2002. It was inaugurated on March 26, 2003 in Belize. It is an inter-governmental organization with its members being Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
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