Caribbean’s First Marine Climate Change Report Card Expected Next Year

BELIZE CITY, Belize, Dec 09 2016 — Several agencies are working to prepare the first ever marine climate change report card for the Caribbean.

The report card, due to be launched in March 2017, will provide comprehensive, peer-reviewed and highly accessible information on what is already happening, what could happen in the future, case studies from across the region, knowledge gaps and potential socio-economic impacts.

It’s being prepared by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) which has been working with other Caribbean agencies and the Centre for Fisheries and Aquaculture (CEFAS), a marine science and technology agency sponsored by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

“The CRFM is trying to ensure that the issue of climate change as it relates to the fisheries sector comes to the fore… because the CARICOM Heads of Government have put fish and fishery products among the priority commodities for CARICOM. It means that things that affect that development are important to us and so climate change is of primary importance,” said Peter Murray, CRFM’s Programme Manager – Fisheries Management & Development.