Agreement establishing the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy.

This Agreement of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, having regard to international instruments including the 1995 United Nations Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, establishes the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy. The Agreement sets out the vision, goal, objectives of the Policy and fundamental principles guiding this Agreement. The objectives of the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy include, amongst others: (a) promote the sustainable development of fishing and aquaculture industries in the Caribbean region as a means of, inter alia, protecting food and nutrition security; (b) develop harmonised measures and operating procedures for sustainable fisheries management, post-harvest practices, fisheries research and fisheries trade and the administration of the fishing industry; (c) improve the welfare and livelihoods of fishers and fishing communities; (d) prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, including by promoting the establishment and maintenance of effective monitoring, control, and surveillance systems; (e) integrate environmental, coastal and marine management considerations into fisheries policy so as to safeguard fisheries and associated ecosystems from anthropogenic threats and to mitigate the impacts of climate change and natural disasters; (f) strengthen, upgrade and modernise fisheries legislation; and (9) facilitate the establishment of a regime for Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures for the fisheries sector.
The Agreement furthermore deals with, among other things: role of the competent agency, access to fisheries resources, fisheries sector development, statistics and research, conservation and management of fisheries resources, registration and licensing of fishing vessels, fishers and other operators in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, inspection, enforcement and sanctions, public awareness, marketing and trade of fisheries resources, protocols, dispute settlement
Each Participating Party, to the extent of its capabilities, shall develop, either directly or through cooperation with other Participating Parties or the Competent Agency, as appropriate, such inspection and enforcement measures as are necessary to ensure compliance with: (a) the rules contained in and adopted pursuant to this Agreement; (b) national regulations relating to fisheries; and (c) rules of international law, binding on the Participating Party concerned. In implementing these obligations, Participating Parties shall, inter alia: (a) monitor, control and undertake surveillance of their maritime space and cooperate in monitoring, controlling and undertaking surveillance of areas contiguous to their maritime space in order to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as appropriate; (b) establish an appropriate vessel monitoring system to monitor the position and activity of vessels flying their flag; (c) adopt port and “at sea” inspection schemes; (d) take inspection and enforcement measures necessary to ensure compliance with the rules of this Agreement; (e) ensure that appropriate and effective measures are taken against violators of the applicable rules and in particular that such measures are capable, in accordance with the relevant provisions of national law, of effectively depriving those responsible of the economic benefit of the infringements and of producing results proportionate to the seriousness of such infringements.
The Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy 2020 lays down actions to enable participating States to collectively undertake the scientific research and studies necessary to determine the status of fish stocks, determine available fishing opportunities, and develop rational harvest strategies and fisheries management plans to ensure optimum sustainable use of the resources and protect the ecosystems.