National Diagnostic of Fishing Organizations started in Suriname
Paramaribo, Suriname, 28 May 2019
A two-day workshop held in Paramaribo on the 27 and 28th of May marked the official launch of the project “National Diagnostic of Fishing Organizations”. The overall goal of this project is to understand the self-governance capacity of small-scale fishing organizations in Suriname and provide recommendations to improve their performance.
Suriname has five organizations of small-scale fishermen along its coast. Most of them were only recently established, including the overarching national organization SUNFO (Suriname National Fisherfolk Organization). This project will assess how these organizations function, how they can improve their performance and learn from each other. To this end, structured interviews will be done with those directly involved in the small-scale fishing sector, including fishers, boat owners, license holders and vendors. Importantly, both members and people outside the fishing organizations will be considered in the study, as well as other relevant stakeholders.
While SUNFO and the other fishing organizations are the key stakeholders and beneficiaries of the National Diagnostic of Fishing Organizations project, different partners are involved each with their own expertise. The kick-off workshop brought together experts from Duke University (USA) and the Caribbean National Resourse Institute (CANARI), representatives from the small-scale fishing sector, the ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV), Social Solutions, the FAO and WWF Guianas. During the workshop, the project methodology was adapted to the local contex in Suriname’s small-scale fisheries. The implementation of the project was discussed and a timeline for its implementation was agreed. By the end of 2019, the study should be completed, and the findings and recommendations will be discussed with fishery stakeholders.