(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism Secretariat (CRFM) in collaboration with key partners will convene a Training Course in Fish Stock Assessment for fisheries officers from CARICOM/CRFM States during 23 August to 3 September at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cavehill Campus in Barbados.

This training course is a collaborative initiative between CRFM, the United Nations University –Fisheries Training Programme (UNU-FTP), and the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus (UWI), through a grant awarded to the CRFM Secretariat by the Island Growth Initiative Fund of Iceland.

The overall development goal of this capacity building initiative is to enhance those specialized technical skills required for evaluating the status of the region’s fish stocks, and changes in the health of these stocks in response to fishing and other environmental pressures. Such knowledge is essential to guide sustainable development, management and conservation of all fishery resources. A key outcome is to have the course formally incorporated into the annual mainstream activities undertaken by the regional partners, CRFM and UWI.

The specific objective of the training is to develop skills in analysis and interpretation of fisheries data to obtain: estimates of key population parameters such as growth and mortality; determine trends in fish abundance; determine trends in exploitation and hence identify instances of overfishing when these threaten the overall goal of sustainable fisheries management; and determine the total allowable catch from stocks with potential for further development.

At the end of this course, therefore, CARICOM/CRFM fisheries officers will have:

• Developed a firm understanding of the aims and methods of fisheries monitoring and assessment;
• Developed/reinforced specialized skills in analysis and interpretation of fisheries data, and conventional methods of fish stock assessment;
• Strengthened their working relationships in the Regional Network of CRFM fisheries biologists and stock assessment scientists;
• Strengthen their capacity to contribute at the national, regional and international level to fish stock assessment activities on a routine basis.

The training course will be formally opened by the Barbadian Minister responsible for fisheries at 9:00 a.m. on Monday 23 August at the UWI Cavehill Campus.