The country aims to implement a new Fisheries Act by year-end

Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – A senior team of experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) undertook a mission to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 25 to 29 July 2023. The mission’s goal was to help the government draft the new Fisheries Bill, which, if passed, will support the country’s efforts to efficiently manage its fisheries resources for the benefit of its people. It would also ensure the implementation of the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) and address the global and regional challenge of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The FAO team, led by Dr Renata Clarke, FAO Subregional Coordinator, included Mr Buba Bojang, Legal Officer, and Mr Osvaldo Urrutia, Specialist in International Fisheries Policy and Legislation, from FOA Development Law Service of the FAO Legal Office and the Fisheries Global and Regional Processes Teams of the Fisheries Division respectively, based in Rome, Italy and Chile, , respectively. During their mission, the visiting team paid a courtesy call on the Honorable Saboto Caesar, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry, and Labour, and the Honorable Grenville Williams, Attorney General. They were informed of the mission’s objectives and the need of expediting the passage of the new Fisheries Bill into law. They thanked FAO for their cooperation and pledged to see that the draft bill becomes the new Fisheries Act this year.

Following the conclusion of the courtesy visits, the FAO team and the Legal Drafting team formed by the Hon. Saboto Caesar worked tirelessly with Ms Jennifer Cruickshank-Howard, Chief Fisheries Officer and the technical staff of the Fisheries Division to finalize the draft Fisheries Bill’s outstanding legislative elements. The draft Bill includes detailed guidelines to protect the conservation and long-term usage of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ fishing resources.

Since 2017, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have received FAO technical help as a beneficiary of international technical assistance through the Swedish-funded project, “Support for the implementation of the PSMA and related instruments to combat IUU fishing.” This project’s technical assistance to SVG involved the creation of a national interagency framework in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding which was signed in August 2022 during a previous FAO Mission.