western and central atlantic fisheries commission (wecafc) informal intersessional workshop

©2004 Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, Inc.
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Background

At St George’s, Grenada , from 21-24 October 2003, the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) met to examine ways to strengthen WECAFC. A report was produced from the Committee for the Development and Management of Fisheries in the Lesser Antilles (FAO Fisheries Report no. 7 25). In this report, the Commission recommended that intersessional work be conducted to explore the feasibility of strengthening WECAFC to promote effective conservation and management of marine capture fisheries throughout the Western Central Atlantic region.

In its 2003 assessment of the Status of Fisheries in the Western Central Atlantic Region, FAO assessed the situation as follows: “Unless urgent steps are taken to collect sufficient information on landings and effort to provide, at least, the minimum information necessary to ensure sustainable utilization, there is a high risk that landings will continue to decline, as this review shows many have already done. This will lead to further erosion of the social and economic benefits currently being derived from the region's marine resources. As so many of the resources are shared between two or more countries, close co-operation between countries at a variety of international levels will commonly be advantageous and often essential in securing this”.

The Commission considered that improved regional cooperation leading to effective regional conservation and management measures was essential to change the present situation and believed that strengthening WECAFC was a possible way forward in this regard. The region needs to adopt a unified and coordinated approach to fisheries management for shared stocks, recognizing that the diversity of the region will sometimes require multiple approaches.

As noted in the paper, “Current Strategy of WECAFC” (WECAFC/XI/03/09), “WECAFC is the only regional cooperation institution whose geographic jurisdiction covers the entire region and whose membership includes all of the countries bordering it”. For these reasons, a strengthened WECAFC would bring substantial benefits to the region. As the focal point for fisheries management in the region, this organization would be better placed to secure increased financial contributions from member States along the lines of other regional fisheries management organizations. A strengthened WECAFC would also be in a much better position to coordinate relevant scientific research and to contribute to the region’s battle against IUU fishing, as it could adopt anti-IUU measures now in use in other regional fora. With progress on the twin goals of science and enforcement, the long-term sustainability of fisheries resources in the Caribbean would be more assured and planners could more effectively use this resource in poverty alleviation programs at the national level.

WECAFC members have repeatedly stressed the need for strengthened regional cooperation for critical fish stocks. With respect to queen conch resources, Caribbean countries have adopted the 1996 San Juan Declaration, which explicitly calls for strengthened regional cooperation on queen conch. Prior to the 2001 WECAFC meeting, Ministers and senior decision-makers at a meeting of the Spiny Lobster Ad Hoc Working Group declared that “greater cooperation was required among lobster-producing nations of the WECAFC region given the shared nature of the resource”.

The Commission accordingly recommended the establishment of a WECAFC intersessional working group tasked to study the feasibility of strengthening regional fisheries management in the region and to report to the twelfth session of WECAFC. Funding for the intersessional working group would be channeled through FAO. To achieve equitable geographic distribution, this working group should be open to participation by all WECAFC members. The Scientific Advisory Group should also be invited to participate in the intersessional work.

As a follow-up to that conference, the group met at the White Water to Blue Water Conference in Miami, Florida, USA, in March 2004, specifically to support the intersessional work envisioned through this recommendation.