ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, Nov. 21, 2014, CNS – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council on Trade and economic Development (COTED) will meet in April next year to discuss recommendations from a regional workshop urging the promotion of blue growth.
During the two-day workshop Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Roland Bhola, urged participants to promote blue growth by raising public awareness of the concept.
The concept of a "blue economy" emphasises conservation and sustainable management, based on the premise that healthy ocean ecosystems are more productive and a must for sustainable ocean-based economies.
The participants were told that promoting the blue economy is for the greater good of the Caribbean, since there is need to sustainably manage the resources of the marine and maritime zones.
“There is need to change the thought process to find solutions to overcome the challenges in the fisheries sector, through understanding the importance to sustainable management of the region’s resources,” said Bhola as he spoke on the theme “Investing in Blue Economic Growth”.
He urged participants to deliver sound recommendations for the way forward on a strategy for sustainable blue growth in the region, noting that COTED will meet in April 2015 and recommendations from the workshop will assist to optimise the benefits of blue growth in the region.
“The world we live in is vastly different, and we must create an enabling environment to improve our social and economic status while considering the challenges, need to include effective fisheries management resources, climate change and variability, cooperation at the other level and conventions,” Bhola said.
He pointed out that is a small island developing state with a vulnerable economy.
He said the management of the sea space is critical since the country’s maritime space is 70 times that of its land space.
Executive director of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Milton Haughton, also urged stakeholders to support the development of the region’s fisheries sector, both for food consumption and economic benefit.
“Globally the aquaculture sector is being developed to generate economic growth from the living resources in the oceans and seas. The Caribbean has to collaborate to meet the demands of the sector for economic growth within a sustainable context,” Haughton said.
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