CANARI: Seafood trade within Caricom can be improved

Four new reports by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) highlight opportunities for improving intra-regional trade and use of seafood in Caricom.

In a statement, CANARI said the reports were developed under the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) and Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN’s Developing organisational capacity for ecosystem stewardship and livelihoods in Caribbean small-scale fisheries (StewardFish)” project.

It said the reports include three country-level fisheries value chains analyses for the Dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi) fishery in Barbados, the Caribbean Spiney Lobster fisher in Jamaica, and the Queen Conch fishery in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“The reports map opportunities for additional marketing and distribution of current and new seafood products for these fisheries.”

The fourth report, it said, makes 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.”

Key regional informants included the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat, the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), and the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO).

It said the reports can help influence policy, management, and development decisions at the national and regional levels and modernise outdated trade legislation.