28. Mr Chakalall provided an overview of FAO Technical Guideline No. 9. In his presentation, he highlighted aspects of the Technical Guideline that in his opinion were relevant to the subregion and should be considered in elaborating NPOAs-IUU. As an introduction to the topic, Mr Chakalall pointed out that the Caribbean subregion, where all countries are small island developing States (SIDS), had juxtaposed exclusive economic zones (EEZs) with only two small areas of high seas in the Gulf of Mexico. Most fish stocks in the subregion were open-access and straddling in nature and the subregion was characterized by considerable diversity in terms of history, culture, economics and resource wealth. He added that there was a large number of fisheries organizations in the subregion and that their overlapping and competing interests did not provide for a coherent fisheries governance framework. Mr Chakalall stressed the need for dialogue between countries and territories of the subregion with respect to the harmonization of fisheries measures and regulations. He noted that the Technical Guideline was an elaboration of the IPOA-IUU and provided useful examples of actions that would assist countries in understanding the IPOA-IUU and the range of actions that were available as part of the "toolbox".
29. The Workshop cited a number of species in the subregion that had collapsed (e.g. Nassau grouper and sea urchin) and considered overexploited (e.g. queen conch and spiny lobster) as a result of poor management and/or IUU fishing. However, there had also been some successes with the rebuilding of stocks following moratoria (e.g. sea urchin) that had been imposed by administrations in consultation with fishers under co-management arrangements.
30. The Workshop noted that there was only a limited number of fisheries access agreements in the Caribbean subregion and that many countries already had monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) arrangements in place and some countries were progressively working towards the implementation of vessel monitoring systems (VMS). The Workshop further noted the importance of MCS/VMS for safety at sea in the subregion.
31. With respect to compliance, the Workshop discussed in detail the role of peer pressure in eliciting voluntary compliance by fishers with management measures and regulations. It was noted that to be successful, self-regulation required that fishers be organized in groups and that they have an affinity with the management plan being implemented. It was further noted that self compliance and enforcement was important in some SIDS where there were small populations because of the reluctance and inability of enforcement officers to take action against relatives and close friends. The Workshop was advised that the promotion of voluntary compliance among fishers had been successful in Trinidad and Tobago and it was proposed that the experience and lessons learned in Trinidad and Tobago could provide the basis for a case study, the results of which could be transmitted to other countries in the subregion.
32. The Workshop discussed the merits of vessel registration noting that in order to encourage fishers to register their vessels, fishers needed to see benefits from such registration. Based on experience in the Caribbean subregion, participants pointed out that registration was important because:
owners received documents and legal entitlement to transfer the ownership of vessels, either through inheritance or the sale of vessels;
subsidies (e.g. fuel) were payable;
vessel insurance was possible;
safety standards could be upgraded and enforced; and
loans (e.g. loans with reduced interest rates from development banks) were possible.
33. In discussing issues related to the port State, the Workshop recognized that although there was limited foreign fishing in the Caribbean subregion, the transshipment of fish at ports was increasing in importance. In order to assist in combating IUU fishing, the Workshop agreed that countries that permitted transshipment of fish in their ports should ensure that they exercised port State measures in accordance with the IPOA-IUU and NPOAs-IUU.
34. The Workshop noted that most countries in the Caribbean subregion maintained a record of fishing vessels and fishers. Through licensing system, both fishers and vessels require authorizations to fish in national waters. It was further noted that most countries in the subregion had fishery management plans.
