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fisheries.proj@sta.uwi.edu

The University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

About: REBYC-III CLME+

A FAO-GEF Funded Project

Who we are

REBYC-III CLME+

Strategies, technologies, and social solutions to manage bycatch in tropical Large Marine Ecosystem Fisheries (REBYC-III CLME+).

The objective of the four-year REBYC-III CLME+ project, with Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund financing of US$5,329,452.00 is to manage bycatch and reduce discards in the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems (CLME+) thereby promoting sustainable and responsible fisheries that provide economic opportunities while ensuring the conservation of marine living resources, and in doing so support country implementation of the CLME+ SAP (particularly Strategies 2, 3 and 5). The participating countries are Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, which are all highly dependent on the fisheries resources for their socio-economic development.

However, many of the region’s target fish stocks are suffering from over exploitation, and some of these fisheries produce high levels of incidental catch of non-target organisms (bycatch) including Endangered, Threatened and Protected species (ETP) such as marine turtles, marine mammals, sharks and rays and associated high levels of discards. In addition, abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) negatively impacts the environment through “ghost fishing.”

The major barriers to addressing bycatch management, reducing discards and addressing ALDFG in these fisheries that the project seeks to address are:

limited availability and awareness

Limited availability and awareness of selective fishing approaches and technologies to address bycatch and discards and other damage to the marine environment;

Insufficient governance

Insufficient governance and management addressing bycatch with limited control, compliance and enforcement of current rules governing bycatch and discards;

Lack of incentives

Lack of incentives and sufficient opportunities to encourage adoption of bycatch and ALDFG management measures; and

lack of knowledge

lack of knowledge and availability of information on threats posed by bycatch and to promote adoption of effective solutions to manage bycatch, reduce discards and address ALDFG.

The Project's  Implementing Agency

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will be the project’s implementing agency and it will be executed by the University of the West Indies (UWI), Faculty of Food and Agriculture (FFA). The fisheries authorities in the four participating countries will act as the national executing partners and focal points for national level activities, in close collaboration with the national fisherfolk organizations as well as other fisheries-related stakeholders. At the regional level, the project will work in close collaboration and coordination with regional fishery bodies, including Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) and Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), to advance the development and adoption of harmonized measures for management of bycatch, reduction of discards and addressing ALDFG in the target and other fisheries of the region

What we Do
The project consists of  four components and nine outcomes:
PMU participates in IW-LEARN 10
Guyana and Suriname to host workshop and training course on gear technology
Fisheries statistics and data analysis training
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