A Fisheries & Aquaculture Policy for Dominica

Transcription

1 INFORMATION NOTE A Fisheries & Aquaculture Policy for Dominica 16 August 2012 The fisheries sector in Dominica has made considerable strides in the last few decades; fishing continues to play a crucial social and cultural role but also increasingly makes an economic contribution as infrastructure, skills and management continue to improve. The fisheries sector overlaps with many other sectors of the Dominica economy: rural community development, tourism and eco-tourism, environment and nature conservation, climate change adaptation, food security and socio-cultural traditions. Aquaculture has potential in Dominica which has not up till now been realised. In this context, the Dominican government decided that this was an appropriate moment to develop a Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy, which would direct the development of the sector over the next 25 years, and would explicitly place the fisheries sector within the wider Dominican policy context. The project has been implemented with the support of the EU ACP Fish II programme, guided by a Technical Team chaired by the Chief Fisheries Officer. The approach to drafting the policy has been participatory. Meetings were held with stakeholders from across government and the private sector, and three community consultation meetings were held with fisheries in Roseau, Portsmouth and Marigot. The content of the policy has been based to a considerable extent on the concerns and aspirations expressed by stakeholders and fishing communities. A draft of the policy has been reviewed by the Technical Team and is now available for wider review. To this end, a Validation Workshop will be held on Tuesday 21 st August in the Fisheries Centre, Roseau. This workshop is a vital part of the policy review process, allowing input to the final draft of the policy by as wide a range of stakeholders as possible. The policy is summarised below.

2 Draft Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy : Summary Vision To optimise the contribution of the fishery sub-sector to the Dominican economy through its sustainable management and development, by creating an enabling environment for sustained employment, enhanced food security, reduction of poverty and for enhancing the contribution of fisheries to the economic diversification of food production in Dominica. Specific Goals Fisheries are sustainable biologically, socially and economically. Marine habitats are healthy and diverse. Fishing supports healthy and thriving communities with multiple economic, social and cultural activities. The Dominican fishery is diverse part-time and full-time fishers and subsistence, artisanal and commercial fisheries co-exist with each other and with other users of the marine environment, with a minimum of conflict. Each group has fair access to marine resources. Fishing is a popular career choice with young people. Fishers have access to training, support and credit so that they can run stable and profitable businesses. People become fishers by choice and not by chance. The fishing industry is resilient against climate change it has the capacity to adapt to changes in the distribution of fish stocks and is prepared to deal with impacts of extreme events. Fishers and other stakeholders play a role in management decision-making. The importance and value of fishing to the Dominican economy, Dominican culture and Dominican society is recognised by government in all aspects of policy-making. The public are interested in fisheries and understand and appreciate its economic, social and cultural importance. Aquaculture plays a positive role in the Dominican economy, providing income, jobs and food, and has no negative impacts on terrestrial, coastal or marine ecosystems. Strategies To achieve the goals, four cross-cutting strategies have been developed. These strategies are set out below and their contents are summarised. Strategy 1: Sustainable Development and Diversification Strategy 1. Sustainable fisheries development and diversification R&D to identify new fisheries in the Dominican EEZ; Develop fishers and buyers skills for exploiting new species and markets; Encourage local processing and value added, including linkages with agriculture and tourism; Support and encourage private sector initiatives in fisheries; Establish a clear regulatory framework and systems for fish quality and sanitary inspection; Continue to improve provision and management of fisheries infrastructure.

3 2. Sustainable aquaculture development Develop a policy framework and provide a supportive research and investment environment in which private sector aquaculture can develop and thrive. Put in place a regulatory framework to manage aquaculture development in Dominica. 3. Protecting food security Locally-caught fish is an essential component of the Dominican diet, contributing to health and environmental objectives for the country. Food security will be expressly considered in relation to commercialisation of fisheries on a large scale, particularly large-scale export of fish products. 4. Monitoring, research and data Ensure that all fishers are registered; Continue to improve the system of fisheries catch and effort data collectors at landings sites, as well as the system of cross-checking, storing and analysing data; Develop a regulatory system to oversee research into the Dominican marine environment; Develop a data protocol that sets out a framework for access to data, data sharing, uses and benefits from data by third parties. Strategy 2: Sustainable Fishing Communities and Livelihoods Strategy 1. Protecting the vulnerable in the fishing industry Development and diversification should not be at the expense of access for some. An equitable and enforceable plan will be developed to protect access to resources for existing fishers. The plan may include: zoning of the EEZ; spatial separation of incompatible fisheries (existing or future); reserving inshore fisheries for vulnerable fishers; limited access to some or all fisheries. 2. Self-reliance and resilience to natural disasters Develop a strategy to support fishers in becoming less reliant on government hand-outs, which may include: encouraging contributions to social security ; researching options for hurricane protection and insurance; developing mutual support systems within cooperatives or through NAFCOOP. 3. Developing skills Continue to provide fishers with training in basic and advanced skills, with particular emphasis on basic skills, safety at sea, product hygiene and handling at sea and onshore and business skills. 4. The next generation

4 Continue to providing information and training to young people about the marine environment and about fishing as a career option. Strategy 3: Sustainable Resource Management Strategy 1. Sustainable inshore fisheries Develop a strategy for reducing effort in these fisheries so that they act as a reserve in the event of environmental change in offshore fisheries. Continue the work to eliminate ghost fishing. 2. Sustainable offshore fisheries Develop a management plan for offshore fisheries, considering issues such as: access rights (open vs. restricted access); stock assessment (as part of regional cooperation); mechanisms for adaptive management; enforcement of management measures; the likely impact of illegal (IUU) fishing on sustainability, and how limited resources can be deployed to reduce levels of IUU in the Dominican EEZ. 3. Integrated coastal zone management and protection of marine inshore habitats Put in place integrated coastal zone management; Develop marine habitat monitoring systems; Ensure that fisheries stakeholders are key consultees during coastal planning. 4. Climate change adaptation Pursue options to improve infrastructure for hurricane protection; Diversify Dominican fisheries to spread risk, including holding coastal fisheries in reserve ; Keep the issue under review based on the most recent scientific data for the region. Strategy 4: Governance and Institutional Development Strategy 1. Capacity building in fishing cooperatives Develop a plan for increasing the role of cooperatives in resource management; Provide ongoing training in financial management and planning to cooperative leaders; Hand over day-to-day management of fisheries infrastructure to the cooperatives, subject to appropriate oversight; Support fishers to get involved in management of specific areas, alongside other users. 2. Integrated and coherent regulatory framework for fisheries and aquaculture Immediate gazetting of the Fisheries Regulations in their most recent draft form; Put forward a proposal on establishing a Fisheries Advisory Committee; Review the fisheries sanitary (SPS) system in Dominica and develop a proposal for legislative and/or regulatory change to the system to make the system more coherent and successful;

5 Ensure that the marine environment is a key consideration in environmental legislation; Develop a regulatory framework for aquaculture. 3. Conflicts over delineation of EEZ resolved Pursue discussions on EEZ boundaries and areas of traditional fishing rights, with the objective of finding an agreeable and equitable solution. 4. Decision-making framework for interactions with foreign fishing fleets Cost-benefit-risk analysis for access to Dominican EEZ for foreign fleets and for Dominican flagged high seas fleet, once Dominica has full control over EEZ. 5. Cooperation with regional and international partners Optimise inputs to regional organisations such that benefits can be obtained without placing on Dominica an unsupportable burden of regional and international obligations. 6. Fisheries Division internal governance Five-year policy review and planning cycle; Annual targets based on policy priorities and available resources; Statistical analysis of contribution of fisheries to GDP; Forge links across government to achieve cross-cutting policy objectives and provide a voice for fisheries stakeholders within government on all relevant issues. The ACP Fish II Programme is a four and a half year, EUR 30.0M programme funded by the European Union through the EDF. It has been formulated to strengthen fisheries management, improve food security and alleviate poverty in 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. For more information on the fisheries policy project or other aspects of the ACP FISH II Programme in Dominica, Contact person : Mr. Andrew Magloire, Chief Fisheries Officer, Fisheries Division, Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Physical Planning and Fisheries, Roseau, Dominica; fisheriesdivision@dominica.gov.dm, (767) For more information on ACP FISH II Programme in the Caribbean: Contact person: Sandra Grant, Regional coordinator for Caribbean - ACP Fish II, s.grant@acpfish2-eu.org, Tel: (+1) ; Fax: (+1) For more information about the ACP Fish II Programme, please visit: An EU Funded Programme