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Earth Today | New reports point to opportunities for improving seafood distribution, consumption in the Caribbean

Published:Thursday | September 9, 2021 | 12:08 AM
A snap of one of the four reports recently published by CANARI.
A snap of one of the four reports recently published by CANARI.

FOUR NEW reports, developed by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), highlight opportunities for improving intra-regional trade and consumption of seafood in the CARICOM region.

The reports were developed under the Developing Organisational Capacity for Ecosystem Stewardship and Livelihoods in Caribbean Small-Scale Fisheries (StewardFish) project of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The project aims to empower fisherfolk throughout fisheries value chains to engage in resource management, decision-making processes and sustainable livelihoods with strengthened institutional support at all levels. It is being implemented by the United Nations FAO and co-executed by CANARI, the Caribbean ICT Research Programme, Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations, Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism and Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies of The University of the West Indies.

Also involved in the execution are the fisheries divisions of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines. StewardFish is being funded by GEF. See here for more information: https://canari.org/stewardfish-project .

Robust demand for fish

The reports, meanwhile, are being published at a time when most nations within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are net importers of food and food products, importing a combined US$5 billion in 2018.

A similar trend applies to the national and regional supplies of seafood and fish products, which are generally unable to satisfy robust demand across CARICOM nations. More than a third of seafood consumed by CARICOM countries is imported.

The reports include three country-level fisheries value chains analyses for the Dolphinfish (Mahi mahi) fishery in Barbados, Caribbean Spiny Lobster fishery in Jamaica, and Queen Conch fishery in St Vincent and the Grenadines, respectively. They map opportunities for additional marketing and distribution of current and new seafood products for these fisheries. The fourth report examines and makes key recommendations to improve the public policy and private sector purchasing practices to support intra-regional trade and consumption of seafood in the CARICOM region.

The studies which informed the reports were conducted with input from key national and regional fisheries stakeholders in the public and private sectors and civil society. Regionally, key informants included trade specialists at CARICOM, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism Secretariat, the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency and the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations.

“The information provided in these reports can influence policy, management and development decisions at the national and regional levels to strengthen sustainable small-scale fisheries value chains and leverage opportunities to increase intra-regional trade of seafood products by addressing key institutional and supply chain challenges, such as modernising outdated trade legislation, improving transport systems and strengthening cold chain management,” CANARI said in a release on the subject.

CANARI is a regional, technical non-profit organisation, which has been working across the Caribbean for over 30 years. It has as its mission promoting and facilitating stakeholder participation in the stewardship of natural resources in the Caribbean, with its work focused on resilience, biodiversity and ecosystems, equity and justice, participatory governance and innovation.