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Beach and Marine Conservation Officers Hired

The St.Kitts and Nevis Conserving Biodiversity Project Coordinating Unit is hosting an orientation session for the newly recruited Beach and Marine Conservation Officers. The purpose of these Conservation officers is to assist in the maintenance of the marine and coastal environment by encouraging users of these areas to comply with the National Conservation and Environment Protection Act 1989 and Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Resources Act 2016. The protection of the Federations’s fragile eco-system is of paramount importance to these officers who are namely; Leonjo Daniel, Lockskey Edwards, Ashadi Duncan, Tasia Jones, Kaywana Hughes and Jevanito Huggins.

Claudia Drew, Project Coordinator commented “ the Project Coordination Unit has attained one of the critical project milestones towards operationalization of the Marine Management Areas through the employment of Beach and Marine Conservation.”

The orientation training includes; map reading, search and rescue, marine tour to all conservation zones within the St. Kitts and Nevis Marine Management Area, water quality monitoring, and heritage and culture.  The Beach and Marine Conservation Officers will also be doing awareness and outreach at the Summer Turtle Camp organized by the St.Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network.

 

Participants in training with a session facilitator Phynora Ible

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ST.KITTS AND NEVIS FISHERFOLK LEADERSHIP CAPACITY BUILDING SESSIONS

 

Fisherfolk leaders from the Federation of St.Kitts and Nevis were invited to participate and benefit from capacity building sessions.   St.Kitts based fishers attended sessions held on February 13-14, 2017; similarly Nevis based fishers’ sessions were conducted on February 15-16, 2017. These workshops were facilitated by Mitchell Lay, Coordinator of Caribbean Network Fisherfolk Organization (CNFO). The CNFO works in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat.

The Department of Marine Resources hosted the capacity building trainings. The Director, Marc Williams gave Opening Remarks and members of DMR staff gave presentations that included Local Legislation by Wilmot Alleyne, SKN Marine Management Area by Tricia Greaux and Food Safety in Fisheries by Nikkita Browne.

Objectives for the sessions included the promotion and development of;

  • awareness of the laws, regulations, and policies applicable to the fisheries sector in St. Kitts and Nevis
  • opportunities for fishers to discuss and clarify implications of fisheries management laws on their activities.
  • fishers’ participation in fisheries management, including in MMAs
  • fishers’ contributions to the national social security mechanism
  • food safety in the fisheries sector
  • leadership skills of leading fishers in St. Kitts and Nevis.
  • fisherfolk leaders’ capacity in communications
  • document and experience sharing

The CRFM Secretariat was the lead agency, fulfilling a mandate for fishers from St. Kitts and Nevis to be exposed to knowledge and skills which will promote their development and enhance their collective participation in sustainable fisheries governance.

The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis passed new legislation, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Resources Act 2016, which will impact the fisheries sector and guide its’ management. This activity will provide fishers with the opportunity to learn of these new measures and to discuss the implications, while identifying opportunities to participate in the governance and management of the sector.

       

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Fisher Consultations on Fisheries Regulations

The Department of Marine Resources held consultations with the fishers at every major landing site in the Federation during the month of November 2016.

The St.Kitts based consultations conducted at; 9th November at Old Road Fisheries Complex, 10th November at Pump Bay, Fig Tree for the Fig Tree and Sandy Point based fishers, 14th November at the Dieppe Bay Fisheries Cooperatives and 23rd November at the Basseterre Fisheries Complex for the Basseterre East and West based fishers.

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Meeting at Basseterre Fisheries Complex

The Nevis based consultations conducted at; 15th November at the Franklin Browne Community Center for New Castle, Long Haul and John’s Bay fishers, 17th November at the Charles Walters Community Center, Hanley’s Road for the Indian Castle based fishers and 21st November at the Gazebo fishers who use the landing site at Charlestown.

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Meeting at Franklin Browne Community Center

The fishers were engaged in an interactive session on topics that included Safety at Sea, Trading of Fish and Fishery Products, Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing, Basic Fisher Training, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Registration and New Identification Cards for Fishers, Vessel Monitoring Systems, St.Kitts and Nevis Marine Managed Areas, Species Catch Size Limits, Closed Seasons for vulnerable species, and Trap Mesh Sizes. Presentations were made by the Fisheries Enforcement Officer, Wilmot Alleyne.  The fisher feedback will be integrated into the final regulations document to be produced.

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 Meeting at Charlestown Gazebo

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FV Transformation to bolster Fishing Industry in St. Kitts and Nevis

DSC_7897  On June 17, 2016, the Honorable Eugene Hamilton, Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources, Environment, Cooperatives and Human Settlement received the keys to a fishing vessel (FV Transformation) from a representative of NBK Corporation out of Japan. FV Transformation is valued at $500,000 USD. This vessel was procured through bilateral arrangement between the Government of St. Kitts & Nevis and the Government of Japan.

 

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The fishing vessel was built in compliance with Japan’s safety regulations for small craft by YANMAR manufacturers, a boat building company with many years of experience in the design and construction of fishing vessels having the same size.

 

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During the week June 13 to 17, 2016, YANMAR sent a team of engineers to the Federation to train the staff of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) in operations and maintenance of FV Transformation. The engineers from YANMAR checked all equipment on board the fishing vessel, executed sea trials to include test operations of fishing equipment and provided operational explanations and guidance for that equipment to the Department of Marine Resources.

 

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FV Transformation will enable the Department of Marine Resources to conduct at-sea fisherman training, implement various fish catch experiments, resources surveys, and install and monitor Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). This fishing vessel will improve the quality of fishing activities within the Federation. A commissioning ceremony will be held at the Basseterre Fisheries Complex (BFC) on Caribbean Fisherfolk Day which is June 29, 2016 at 3PM to introduce FV Transformation to our fishers.

 

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SKN represented at First CLME+ Steering Committee Meeting and Inception Workshop in Columbia

The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) of the UNDP/GEF co-funded Project “Catalysing Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the Sustainable Management of shared Living Marine Resources in the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems” (the “CLME+ Project”) held the First CLME+ Steering Committee Meeting and Inception Workshop held in Cartagena, COLOMBIA 26-28 January, 2016.

The CLME+ Project Steering Committee (PSC), is expected to provide overall strategic policy and management direction for the project and play a critical role in reviewing and approving overall project planning and execution. More specifically, the CLME+ PSC will be expected to, amongst other things and in line with the adoption of an adaptive management approach, review project progress and results, make recommendations and adopt the (biennial) project work plans and budget.

The objectives of this First CLME+ Steering Committee Meeting and Inception Workshop were to:
 Review and adopt suggested updates to the CLME+ Project Document

 Review and adopt the CLME+ Project Work Plan and Budget for the period 2015 – 2017

 Adopt the proposed TORs for CLME+ Project National Focal Points and Steering Committee, including the proposed Rules and Procedures for the PSC meetings

 Review activities implemented during CLME+ Project Inception Phase

 Review and adopt proposed coordination and management arrangements for the CLME+ Project and the 10-year CLME+ Strategic Action Programme (SAP)

 

Representing St. Kitts-Nevis, for the Deparment of Marine Resources, was Ms. Nikkita Browne in her capacity of Oceanography and GIS Officer.

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