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FAO experts undertook a mission to Trinidad and Tobago from 11 to 15 November 2019 under the framework of a technical cooperation programme that has been supporting the country since 2018 (TCP/TRI/3601/C1).

The mission aimed to assist the Fishery Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Forestry in conducting national stakeholder consultations on the Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) Regulations and reviewing the fisheries legal framework to comply with the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA), complementary instruments and regional mechanisms to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Forty-one representatives from seven Ministries and other national institutions attended the stakeholder consultation.

In addition to providing support in streamlining MCS Regulations, the mission assisted in the review of the Fisheries Management Bill in accordance with the priority of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries who expressed his intention to submit the Bill to Parliament for enactment by the end of 2019.

As a result of this support, the Bill fully incorporates the PSMA and other relevant international and regional instruments under which Trinidad and Tobago assumed certain obligations as a flag, coastal, port and market State.