Two CARICOM Countries Sign Copenhagen Declaration as Region Launches Blue Justice Caribbean Hub

COPENHAGEN, Norway – Two CARICOM countries have signed on to the Copenhagen Declaration as the region launched the Blue Justice Caribbean Hub to strengthen cooperation and coordination in the use of innovation and digital technology to fight fisheries crimes.

Dominica’s Fisheries Minister Jullan Defoe signing the Copenhagen Declaration in Norway (Photo courtesy) Blue Justice Secretariat / UNDPThe regional hub to be headquartered in Jamaica was launched at the conclusion of the two-day International Blue Justice Conference 2023 that ended here on Friday with Barbados and Dominica being the latest signatories to the Declaration, an international initiative against transnational organized crime in the global fishing industry.

Specialist Director in the Fisheries Department, of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries in Norway, Gunnar Stølsvik, commended the Caribbean for the passage of the Ministerial Resolution.

“It shows that that region is really taking this seriously and has a clear roadmap in the implementation of this… going from words to action,” he said, adding that apart from Dominica and Barbados, the other signatories are the Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Madagascar, Somalia, Angola, Tuvalu, and Guinea.

Norway said that with the new signings, the total number of signatories to the Copenhagen Declaration had surpassed 60.

“On behalf of all the members, I will, as depositor for the Copenhagen Declaration thank you all for your strong support, and I will also thank our new members for their support,” said  Skjæran.

The establishment of the Blue Justice Caribbean Hub in Jamaica is the latest in a series of advancements by the Belize-based Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) and its member state in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and transnational organized crime in the fishing industry.

Jamaica’s Agriculture & Fisheries Minister, Pearnel Charles Jr, Minister outlined the importance of the Blue Justice Caribbean Hub to food security, national security, and social mobility.

He said that reducing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing will translate to the sustainability of fish stocks and improved livelihoods for fishers.

Charles explained that although Jamaica will host the Hub, it will also identify and appoint at least one superuser on the Blue Justice Community to follow up with other registered Caribbean countries to connect under the Blue Justice Caribbean Hub. National focal points will also be identified.

In May 2021, the CRFM Ministerial Council at its 15th Regular Meeting adopted the resolution regarding the Copenhagen Declaration on Transnational Organized Crime in the Global Fishing Industry and the Blue Justice Initiative.

In October of the same year, 12 CRFM member states signed the Declaration together.

“This climate-sensitive sector straddles the kaleidoscope of colored economies, unfortunately including the black economy an economy, of course, bedeviled with illegal activities such as drug and human trafficking and unregulated and unreported fishing, which have often posed a significant challenge in the sector worldwide,” said Barbados Minister of the Environment and Natural Beautification, Adrian Forde.

CRFM executive director, Milton Haughton, said “the fish stocks in our waters not only provide a significant source of food and nutrition for our people, but also contribute substantially to livelihoods, economic activities, trade, recreation, culture, and the socio-economic stability of many rural communities.

“However, the pillaging and plundering of our marine resources … undermine the investments and sacrifices of our governments and stakeholders to protect, manage, and use our fisheries resources sustainably, to improve food and nutrition security, eradicate poverty, and promote economic development,” he added.

Chairman of the CRFM Ministerial Council, and Suriname’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & Fisheries,  Parmanand Sewdien, said “we see that the perpetrators are increasingly making use of sophisticated technology, to carry out these nefarious activities in our waters and across our region…

“The Blue Justice Platform is providing insights into the movement of vessels in the region and creating a basis for greater collaboration and sharing of information,”  Sewdien said, adding “we welcome and support the intention of Jamaica to function as the regional Hub”.

Delegates from Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, as well as St. Kitts- Nevis, added their public endorsement while pledging their full support to the Blue Justice Caribbean Hub during the proceedings.

Project Manager with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) – Blue Resilience Project, Dr. Emma Witbooi, said: the project is very proud to be supporting the establishment of regional Blue Justice Hubs globally, of which the Caribbean Hub is the first.

“These Hubs will essentially be nodes for developing and sustaining capacity on inter-agency cooperation to address fisheries crime both in the host country and between the countries of the region. The Hub will serve the specific needs identified by the countries in the region, and this is exactly what we’ve heard here today.”

Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Multi Country Office in Jamaica, Ava Whyte-Anderson commended CARICOM governments for their demonstrated commitment to ending illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and the Caribbean’s “sizeable contribution to the achievement of SDG 14 (Life below water).”

“UNDP along with our partners are committed to providing the requisite resources at the national and regional levels to ensure the Hub reaches its full potential,” said Whyte-Anderson.