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FISHERY SECTOR SANITARY CONTROL CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING

St.Kitts and Nevis was represented at the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism Food Safety Control and Laboratory Operation capacity building training held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Mr Jermaine Mike – St.Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards attended the training from 28 November – 2 December 2016 which covered Laboratory Testing. Ms Nikkita Browne – Department of Marine Resources attended the Health and Food Safety 5-9 December 2016.

The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) training course outlined; functions of the competent authority, traceability measures, training in water quality testing, standards surrounding inspections for the fisheries sector ; landing sites, aquaculture, processing facilities, and small scale and high seas fishing vessels. Manuals will be developed and distributed to countries involved in the training sessions.

Capacity building training activities were conducted by Megapesca Ltd of Portugal and was sponsored under the fisheries component of the programme on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, approved under the 10th European Development Fund Caribbean Regional Indicative Programmes implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in partnership with CARICOM Community Secretariat and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CFRM).

 

Ms Nikkita Browne – Department of Marine Resources attended the Health and Food Safety training

Mr Jermaine Mike – St.Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards attended the Laboratory Operation training

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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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St.Kitts and Nevis SocMon Workshop 2016

November 16 -18 2016 commenced the first phase of the Eastern Caribbean Marine Managed Areas Network (ECMMAN) Socio-Economic Monitoring for Coastal Management (SocMon) Capacity Building Workshop for the Narrows area in St.Kitts and Nevis.

The workshop’s overall objective was the development of the Site Monitoring Plan for the Narrows area through scoping exercises and capacity building through knowledge sharing – data collection, sampling, SocMon variables for monitoring and data analysis.  Technical expertise was provided by Maria Pena of Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) from the University of the West Indies Barbados http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/cermes/home.aspx .

Images from Scoping exercise

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Workshop training

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Participants for the workshop included; Thema Ward – Physical Planning of the Department of Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Environment, Clive Wilkinson- Fisheries Officer, Department of Fisheries Nevis, Daniele Moore – Outreach Officer, Nevis Historical and Conservation Society and from the Department of Marine Resources were Marcia Stubbs -Education and Compliance Officer, Nikkita Browne – GIS Officer, and Tricia Greaux – MMA and Habitat Monitoring Officer.
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The second phase of the workshop would take place November 28 -29 using SocMon Spatial Tools.

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Declaration of St. Kitts Nevis Marine Management Area

Declaration of the St. Kitts & Nevis Marine Management Area (MMA)

On August 18th 2016, the Honorable Eugene Hamilton approved on behalf of the Government of the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis the declaration of the St. Kitts and Nevis Marine Management Area as defined by the two (2) miles radius of sea water around the St. Kitts and Nevis’ coastline including the Monkey Shoals area to be managed by the Department of Marine Resources as the entity with jurisdiction of the Federal Waters of St. Kitts and Nevis as indicated in the Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Resources Act (FAMRA) 2016.

This St. Kitts and Nevis Marine Management Area has been proposed since the late 1980’s. Substantial work was completed in the 2010 Marine Zoning Plan for St. Kitts and Nevis after extensive multi-sectoral consultations to define the marine area to be managed and the zones within the area. However, the Fisheries Legislation at the time was inadequate to adequately manage the St. Kitts and Nevis Marine Management Area.

Since then several consultations and efforts have been geared towards increasing the awareness and importance of this proposed area. With the newly passed FAMRA 2016, there is now legislation that supports for proper management and governance of such an area.

The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is thankful to the fisherfolk, government officials, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, the Eastern Caribbean Marine Management Areas Network and other stakeholders for their invaluable assistance during the process of establishing the SKNMMA.

 

 

 

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Creative Murals promote Awareness

The Department of Marine Resources has embarked on a number of projects to raise the level of awareness for Kittitians and Nevisians of marine life and the importance of the sustainable use of marine resources for 2016.  The marine inspired dumpster project is one of the marquee projects that is expected to visually stimulate the populace.

The Department commissioned Nevisian artist Mr Vaughn Anslyn to conceptualize and execute the project.  The results are as follows:

 

Before: Outline for the mural

Before: Image Outline

Nevisian artist Vaughn Anslyn working on his masterpiece

Nevisian artist Vaughn Anslyn working on the masterpiece.

 

Finished Visual on the dumpsters

Finished visual on one of the dumpsters

 

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This is who we are

Marine Life Dumpster in Day time

 

The murals feature various types of marine life that can be found in the proposed Narrows Marine Management Area including; Hawksbill Sea turtle, Angel fish, sea grass bed, corals, sea sponges and a sea fan.  The mural project was funded by CamPAM Small Grants with the Department of Marine Resources as the National Implementing Entity (NIE).  CamPAM seeks to support to the management of marine space within the region. Establishing Marine Management Areas (MMA) or Marine Protected Areas (MPA) is used as a regional tool to improve marine management, conserve marine biodiversity, address over fishing impacts, decrease user conflicts, and provide economic alternatives to local coastal communities. This has resulted in substantial knowledge gained on optimal site selection and design, successful outreach approaches, effective management strategies, and appropriate methods to evaluate their effectiveness.  The Department of Marine Resources is presently embarking on establishing a two-mile radius St.Kitts and Nevis MMA .

The marine-inspired dumpsters will be placed at various fish landing sites throughout St. Kitts and Nevis.

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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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DMR participates in SKN Bureau of Standards Exhibition 2016

Members of the Department of Marine Resources participated in the inaugural exhibition hosted by the St. Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards celebrating World Accreditation Day 2016 on the Thursday June 9th.

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The Department of Marine Resources is incooperating standards as defined by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to utilize an ecosystem based approach to Fisheries management.  This is evident in the tripartite structure of Aquaculture, Marine Management Areas (MMAs) and Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs).  Displays highlighted standards pertaining to cost of impact, criteria of proper evaluation, SMART techniques to be incooperated for result based management,  monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and the differences between them.

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Trade facilitation brochures were also on display which highlighted the processing of Fish and/or Fishery products. The procedures for import and export of fish/ fishery products include processing fees and certificates needed.

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For more information on the SKN Bureau of Standards World Accreditation Day exhibition see: http://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/96667

 

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4th Annual National Joint Coordinating Committee Meeting held at the Old Road Fisheries Complex

On May 24th 2016, the National Joint Coordinating Committee (NJCC) held its 4th Annual meeting at the Old Road Fisheries Complex. The meeting held covered the timeframe April 2015 to May 2016.

Mr. Ishida, Mr. Honda and Mr. Tamura are members of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) delegation. Local representatives including Ms. Ashadi Duncan – JICA Liaison Officer, Mr. Kharim Saddler – Project Manager and Mr. Marc Williams – Director of the Department of Marine Resources discussed the following:

  • Fish Aggravated Device (FAD) Project: Positioning and Future Projector
  • Fishers learned about using the FADs and their advantages.
  • Discussions on  the catch sizes of large pelagic fish occurred.  These pelagic fish include Dolphinfish or Mahi Mahi and different species of Tuna and Rainbow Runner and Blue Fin.

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