Sustainable Fisheries Management and Development (Seafood Markets and Businesses) Act, 2025-11.

This Act lays down provisions on the establishment, management, registration and regulation public seafood markets for the sale of marketable commodities, and provides for the convenient use of such seafood markets. It sets out the procedures of the application for seafood market sellers’ licence and the services to be provided by seafood markets and their fees. This Act requires all seafood businesses to be registered and to have seafood business license in addition to the food business license issued by the Ministry of Health, health certificate issued by the Ministry of Health with respect to the seafood handler, and seafood supply-chain transparency verification certificate (SSCTVC) issued by the Fisheries Division.
This Act provides for the establishment of a national scheme for processors of fish and other seafoods in order to improve efficiency, facilitate international compliance and promote economic, social and sustainable development in the seafood processing sector. Fishing trawling activities, including processing activities, shall be registered by the Chief Fisheries Officer, and the code of practices shall be created to develop the fish trawling industry. The Minister may identify areas in Barbados waters as no-trawl areas and declare seasons in which trawling is prohibited or restricted as no-trawl seasons. This Act permits individuals possessing marine-specific traditional knowledge to charge customers for access to that knowledge within seafood markets or businesses, in alignment with national maritime heritage legislation. It requires seafood business owners or operators to adhere to internationally recognized seafood safety standards, including the CODEX Alimentarius, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) protocols, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines, and any other applicable global seafood safety standards.