Efforts to finalise fishing agreements

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds is calling on CARICOM member states to redouble their efforts to finalise outstanding fishing agreements.

He was speaking during the opening ceremony of a two-day technical workshop on ‘The Ratification and Implementation of the World Trade Organisation Fisheries Subsidies Agreement’.

Minister Symmonds says while the mandate to complete those agreements has not expired and progress has been made, there is still too much uncertainty in the sector.

Minister Symmonds says during a recent trip to Abu Dhabi, officials were unable to reach an agreement relative to overcapacity and overfishing on fishing subsidies.

He says there is a role for all involved in the decision making, and urged transparency throughout the process.

The workshop, the second in its series, is being hosted by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, CARICOM, the Caribbean Development Bank, and the WTO in Barbados.

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