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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working with Duke University, USA; the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados; the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries in Trinidad and Tobago to develop a “National Diagnostic of Fisherfolk Organisations in Trinidad and Tobago”. The project will provide a roadmap by gathering qualitative and quantitative data to conduct a systematic evaluation of fishing organizations in Trinidad and Tobago to determine the types of institutional arrangements that are in place for their successful functioning. Its main goal is to understand the self-governance capacity of small-scale and commercial fishing associations as well as identify tangible areas for their improvement and build capacity within the organizations.

CANARI is tasked with the coordination of the Project and provided technical and logistical support to a two day inception and training workshop held on 23^rd and 24^th May, 2019 at its office, in Barataria, Trinidad. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Mateja Nenadovic of Duke University and Dr. Patrick McConney of CERMES. Participants included staff of the Fisheries Division and CANARI as well as members of two fisherfolk organizations namely, Trinidad and Tobago Unified Fishers (TTUF) and Future Fishers. FAO Trinidad and Tobago was also represented. 

Dr. Nenadovic introduced the study and identified its goals, objectives and timeline. He mentioned that it was previously introduced in Mexico and gave an update on the work and results obtained there. He identified the methodological approach and the tool to be used for data collection. Fisheries Division staff gave presentations and highlighted the fishery in terms of the country context. Ms. Lara Ferreira, Fisheries Officer, gave an overview of the fisheries sector in Trinidad and Tobago. She identified among other things, the fleet types, landing sites and showed a map of fishing effort. Ms. Shandira Ankiah, Fisheries Officer, gave a background on fisherfolk organizations in the country, highlighting their numbers, types and level of activity.

Afterwards, participants were divided into groups to review the list of indicators and accompanying questions. Within the small group sessions, there were discussions on the relevancy of some of the indicators and questions to measure/identify the indicators. Participants reworded questions to apply them to the local context. CANARI staff acted as facilitators and scribes, recording the changes, comments, questions and suggested revisions to each indicator. After the group work was completed, each group chose one indicator that they found particularly interesting to discuss in the plenary session.

The second day’s session was led by Dr. Patrick McConney, who discussed best practices for data collection. He carried out an exercise, with the purpose to reflect on the experience of persons in implementing various parts of the data collection process, from design to data analysis. Through that activity, participants identified best practices from working in the field.

At the end of the workshop, the facilitators developed a draft timeline of the implementation schedule with roles and activities assigned to participants. Most of the workshop participants agreed to be engaged in data collection activities. They indicated that they were familiar with surveys, interviews and/or focus groups techniques and that they had already conducted data collection exercises with the executive and membership of various fisherfolk organisations. Dr. Nenadovic then shared a “Manual for Enumerators” with participants. A lively discussion ensued about the methods and dos and don’ts when engaging Key Informants in conducting surveys and focused group meetings. Lastly, there was brief discussion on the next steps for the project. It was agreed that the weeks following the workshop would be used to finalize the sampling framework and identify the fisherfolk organizations to be studied.