Two Caribbean countries to benefit from fisheries project

(PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC) – Two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries stand to benefit from a project to establish ecosystem-based shrimp and groundfish fisheries management in the Guianas-Brazil Shelf.

The project is a joint investment by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The pilot project will be carried out as a collaboration between the countries that share the transboundary shrimp and groundfish resources in the Guianas-Brazil Shelf, namely Brazil, French Guyana, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Suriname.

The project aims, over a one-year period, to assess the value and management potential of shrimp and groundfish stocks and fisheries of the Guianas-Brazil Shelf, in order to enable sustainable investments in ecosystem-based management of these marine resources.

The shrimp and groundfish fisheries of the Guianas-Brazil shelf provide employment to at least 150 000 fishers and many more in auxiliary jobs including processing, marketing/trade, vessel and gear repair and maintenance.

The number of households that are economically dependent on the income derived from working in the shrimp and groundfish fisheries sub-sector is estimated to be over  one million.

Shrimp fisheries contribute significantly to hunger eradication and the achievement of food security. In coastal communities fish and fishery products consumption is generally higher than 40 kg/capita/year.

However, a number of shrimp and groundfish stocks in the region are fully exploited and at the risk of being overexploited. Fisheries technologies currently applied include unsustainable practices that are detrimental for aquatic habitats and put the lives of fishers at risk.

The project’s main objectives are to improve understanding of economic value of the shrimp and groundfish stocks and the economic impact of the related fisheries sector of the Guianas-Brazil shelf; initiate an ecosystem-based shrimp and groundfish fisheries management of the Guianas-Brazil Shelf planning process.

In addition, it is also aimed at developing an investment proposal for the IADB to promote and leverage public and private financing of investments in ecosystem based management of these resources.

The project will be using the WECAFC/CRFM/IFREMER Working Group on Shrimp and Groundfish, as main vehicle to bring the countries’ experts and managers, private sector and partner agencies together. The funding for this project originates from the IADB programme for Managing Regional Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems for Biodiversity Conservation.