Posts

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.

       

/by

Climate Change Adaptation for Fisheries

“The project launching workshop for CC4FISH (Climate Change Adaption in the Eastern Caribbean Fisheries Sector) was very timely as we need to take a more active response as the fisheries sector is particularly vulnerable to climate change “said Nikkita Browne, SKN National Focal Point – CC4FISH project.

From February 7 – 9 2017, in Barbados, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) conducted a project launching workshop for CC4FISH (Climate Change Adaption in the Eastern Caribbean Fisheries Sector).  Nikkita Browne-SKN National Focal Point and Tricia Greaux – Marine Management Area and Habitat Monitoring Officer from the Department of Marine Resources were country representatives at the workshop.

Raymon Van Anrooij, FAO/WECAFC – “Having all of the project countries and regional partners together at the workshop promotes synergy and fast forwards the implementation of the project which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and COP 21 targets for the Caribbean region “.  The project countries involved include; Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St.Kitts and Nevis, St.Lucia, St.Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. Entities such as COPACO, UWI, TNC, CRFM, CNFO, and Clear Caribbean serve as project partners.

Dr. Iris Monnereau – Regional Project Coordinator for CC4FISH gave an overview of the project and further commented “Given the impacts of climate change on the fisheries sector in recent years for example; increased intensity and number of tropical storms and the devastation they have on the fisheries sector,  habitat and biodiversity loss through coral bleaching events across the region and the enormous Sargassum influx in recent years which affected the sustainability of fisheries this workshop is critical. “

Projected implementation would span over a four year period. There are three project components; increased awareness and understanding of climate change impacts and vulnerability for effective climate change adaptation in the fisheries and aquaculture sector,   improved resilience of fisherfolk and coastal communities and aquaculturists, and climate change adaptation mainstreamed in multilevel fisheries governance.

Workshop SKN representatives – Nikkita Browne and Tricia Greaux

 

Nikkita and Tricia presenting the SKN Country presentation for implementation of the CC4FISH project

/by

Women of St.Kitts and Nevis represented at WiMAC Conference

The Federation of St.Kitts and Nevis was represented at the Women in Maritime Association, Caribbean (WiMAC) conference “Charting the course for generations of women” held in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands from 5th to 9th September, 2016. Among the seventy five delegates were Tricia Greaux -Department of Marine Resources and Thema Ward – Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Environment Nevis representing St.Kitts and Nevis.

The conference was held in collaboration with the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).  The conference focused on current an d emerging development trends that are impacting different areas and sub-sectors in the maritime sphere in the context of women’s rights and access. While also providing a forum for the exchanging of experiences and best practices amongst maritime women of the region and for the participants to benefit from global experiences and advancements from a range of strategic partner agencies that can be used to form gender-sensitive standards and strategic directions. One of the conference activities included WiMAC executive and members visited school to sensitize the young girls of the Cayman Islands about careers in the maritime sector.

The Department of Maritime Affairs was instrumental in assisting Ms Greaux and Ms Ward to deliver a presentation outlining the maritime sector of St. Kitts-Nevis.  Ms Ward now serves as St.Kitts and Nevis Liaison for WiMAC and Ms Greaux as the Alternate Liaison. They have been commissioned to charter a WiMAC Chapter for St.Kitts and Nevis.

IMO, through its gender and capacity-building programme SDG 5: Strengthening the maritime sector, will provide support to women managers in the maritime and port sectors of the Caribbean with a view to; strengthening WiMAC’s regional cooperation network,  further develop the viability of the Caribbean maritime system, the role and contribution of women to the maritime sector, contribute to the implementation of IMO instruments throughout the regional, and increase career development and advanced training opportunities.

For more information on the Women in Maritime Association, Caribbean (WiMAC) see website link below http://www.wimacaribbean.com/.

 

/by

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

img-20161116-wa0032img-20161116-wa0033img-20161116-wa0035img-20161116-wa0034

Workshop training

img-20161117-wa0011img-20161118-wa0019

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.
img-20161116-wa0030img-20161118-wa0017

img-20161118-wa0016

 

The second phase of the workshop would take place November 28 -29 using SocMon Spatial Tools.

/by

Department of Marine Resources (DMR) launches its new website!

A look at DMR’s website

 

Department of Marine Resources (DMR) launches new website and social media page.

The Department of Marine Resources (DMR) welcomes 2016 with exciting new ventures: diving into the mobile, web and social media revolution.

DMR has launched a responsive website and social media page via Facebook in an effort to connect with a wider audience. Director of DMR, Mr. Marc Williams stated “The new website provides a platform that allows us to inform interested individuals of our vision: to promote the sustainable use of all living marine resources in all waters of national jurisdiction and areas beyond the national jurisdiction of Saint Kitts and Nevis as well as projects undertaken by the Department of Marine Resources.”

The addition of our social media presence creates an avenue for interested persons to stay up to date with the plethora projects launched by the DMR.

Tricia Greaux, Marine Management Area and Habitat Monitoring Officer, DMR, is extremely excited “We would like persons to get a feel of our marine environment and change the attitude of fear of the ocean; we have used vivid visual and audio content (pictures, videos) on the website to help to enlighten the public”.

Caribbean Aqua-Terrestrial Solutions (CATS) Component 2 has funded the website which was developed and designed by local digital marketing company, Caribbean Commerce Ltd.

TAKE THE PLUNGE INTO DMR’s website www.dmrskn.com and COME SEE THE SEA with us by liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DMRSKN

/by