Model Protocol for the Management of Extreme Accumulations of Sargassum on the Coasts of CRFM Member States.

Abstract

The 26th Meeting of the CRFM Executive Committee noted the protocol developed for the management of extreme accumulations of Sargassum in Puerto Rico and considered the efficacy of such a protocol being considered for adoption and implementation by the CRFM. The Executive Committee noted that the protocol developed by Puerto Rico closely meets the current needs of the CRFM, based on geographical as well as social and economic realities; and, mindful of the concerns already expressed by the CRFM Ministerial Council, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Council of Ministers, CARICOM’s Council on Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and CARICOM Heads of Government, endorsed the development a protocol for the management of extreme accumulations of Sargassum by the CRFM. The 14th Meeting of the Caribbean Fisheries Forum agreed that the Puerto Rico Sargassum protocol be used as a point of departure and modified where necessary to meet the needs of the region in respect to the establishment of a regional Sargassum protocol. The 10th Meeting of the CRFM Ministerial Council, held on 15 June 2016 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, supported the initiative to develop a regional (CRFM) protocol on the management of extreme accumulations of Sargassum seaweed in waters of Member States. The present model protocol is an adaptation, pursuant to the above direction, of that developed for Puerto Rico and is prepared in the form of a template that can be utilised by Member States; recognising, that there is significant variability in the institutional frameworks that obtain in and among the different States. Some measure of urgency was seen as driving this adaptation, not only consequent upon the abovementioned concerns, but also given predictions suggesting that the last week of July and the first week of August 2016 might have seen large Sargassum influxes into the islands of the Lesser Antilles. The model protocol has been developed as a template, which Member States will customize.