The Bahamas is one of four nations that have signed on to the agreement establishing the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM).

This nation joined Anguilla, Dominica and Montserrat in formalising their membership in the 22 year-old organisation, which was inaugurated in Belize City, Belize, in March 2003.

The signing occurred at the sixteenth special meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council, which was held during the recently-concluded Caribbean Week of Agriculture hosted by Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Montez Williams, under-secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, signed on behalf of The Bahamas.

Dr Marc Williams, executive director at the CRFM secretariat, welcomed the move by the four Caribbean states, which have already been actively involved in the CRFM - an intergovernmental CARICOM institution.

“Currently, there are 17 member states of the CRFM that have been actively involved in the effective management of the organisation,” he said. “The CRFM prides itself on meeting the needs of its members with the available resources.

“When attracting resources to support the implementation of our work programme and alleviate the financial burden on member states, the CRFM is frequently asked about its governance framework.” Dr Williams added that the CRFM has adopted several key policies to improve its governance framework.

These include the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy (CCCFP), which enables participating states to collectively undertake the scientific research and studies necessary to determine the status of fish stocks, determine available fishing opportunities, and develop rational harvest strategies and fisheries management plans to ensure optimum, sustainable resources use and protect the ecosystems.

Other initiatives include the Personal Data Protection Policy, which ensures that the roles and responsibilities of CRFM secretariat employees - with respect to protecting personal data - are clearly defined, understood and followed by all. The policy provides procedural guidance on how the CRFM secretariat and its governance bodies will implement the policy.

The CRFM secretariat also has an Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy to deal with bribery and corruption, plus a Whistleblower Policy, which aims to provide a comprehensive framework that will not only protect whistleblowers from retaliation but also encourage a culture that values ethical behaviour and the disclosure of information vital to the organisation's short and long-term success and well-being.

The CRFM’s 17 member states are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The CRFM’s objectives include the efficient management, and sustainable development, of marine and other aquatic resources within the jurisdictions of member states. It also promotes and establishes co-operative arrangements among interested states for the efficient management of shared, straddling or highly migratory marine and other aquatic resources.

Technical advisory and consultative services are provided to fisheries authorities of member states in the development, management and conservation of their marine and other aquatic resources.