Volume 54

A Review of the Fisheries Sector of Haiti with Recommendations for its Strengthening


Authors
Mateo, J.; Haughton, M.O.
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Date: November, 2001


Pages: 60-71


Event: Proceedings of the Fifty Fourth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute


City: Providenciales Turks & Caicos Islands


Country: Turks and Caicos Islands

Abstract

The Republic of Haiti, located in the Caribbean Region and sharing the Island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, is one of the poorest and most densely populated nations of the Westem Hemisphere. With around 30,000 subsistence fishers, its coastal resources are probably the most over-exploited and poorly managed. There is a lack of policy, legal, institutional and administrative framework, and resources to ensure sustainable use, management, and conservation of the fisheries and marine resources. In November 2000, the CARICOM Fisheries Unit initiated a programme to improve management of the fisheries, in collaboration with the govemment of Haiti. Preliminaryreviews and surveys conducted indicated that although there is some information available on the fisheries, it is generally incomplete, contradictory, and difficult to locate. There are no systems in place either for collection and analysis of fisheries data or for monitoring, surveillance, and enforcement of fisheries regulations. The limited capacity of the local fishing fleet has partly prevented the exploitation of Haiti's off-shore fishery resources and concentrated effort in the near shore waters. On the positive side, with 59 fishers associations, Haiti has one of the strongest fisherfolk organizational systems in the CARICOM region. Also, the Haitian Fisheries Service has a team of qualified and motivated staff who are available to undertake the task necessary to improve the sector. In this paper, a preliminary assessment of the situation is provided as well as recommendations for specific activities to be conducted for the strengthening of the sector and improving the sustainable management of the fishery resources.

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