The 21st Meeting of Fisheries Ministers within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will open at 9am today at the Trade Winds Hotel.
Under the auspices of the country’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Samantha Marshall, the two-day meeting themed ‘the Sustainable Use of Living Marine Resources’, brings fellow ministers, policymakers and technical experts within the region’s fishing industry together to deliberate on the sustainable use of marine resources, a release said.
Representatives are expected from Grenada, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and host country, Antigua and Barbuda. Both Caricom and OECS fisheries officials are also expected to attend.
“His Excellency Akimoto Masatoshi, Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, will also be in attendance and he is expected to address the gathering of Ministers during the opening ceremony,” the communique added.
According to Minister Marshall, “the meeting is expected to deliberate on a number of issues including, post-Covid challenges of sustainable fisheries development as it pertains to sustainable use of living marine resources and livelihoods, coastal environmental issues affecting fisheries development and management, opportunities for the development of the Blue Economy, International Maritime Organization, the International Whaling Commission and CITES and bilateral assistance for fisheries development.”
Antigua and Barbuda’s IWC Commissioner, Ambassador Daven Joseph indicated that hosting this high-level meeting is indicative of the twin island’s trust in the research and development of the Blue Economy.