FAO mission to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
A team from FAO undertook a mission to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 25 to 29 July 2023. The purpose of the mission was to assist the country finalise the new Fisheries Bill which, when enacted will support its efforts to effectively manage its fisheries resources for the benefit of its people. It will also ensure the implementation of the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The FAO team and the Legal Drafting team formed by the Minister of Fisheries worked intensely to finalise the outstanding legislative provisions of the draft Fisheries Bill. The draft Bill has comprehensive rules to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of the country's fisheries resources.
The FAO team, including Ms Renata Clark, FAO Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, paid a courtesy call on Mr Saboto Caesar, the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry and Labour and Mr Grenville Williams, the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice respectively. They were briefed about the mission objectives and the importance of accelerating the process of enacting the new fisheries Bill into law. They expressed their appreciation to FAO for the assistance and assured their commitment to ensuring the draft bill becomes the new Fisheries Act this year. The FAO team met and worked with Ms Jennifer Cruickshank-Howard, Chief Fisheries Officer and the technical staff of the Fisheries Division.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines continued to receive technical assistance from FAO since 2017 as a recipient of international technical support under the Swedish-funded project “Support for the implementation of the PSMA and related instruments to combat IUU fishing”. The technical support extended to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines under this project included the development of a national interagency mechanism in the form of a memorandum of understanding, signed in August 2022 during a previous FAO mission.