Abstract

All CARICOM Member states have implemented laws and regulations governing access to their fisheries as a part of the regime to control the sustainable development and conservation of these resource systems. The access regimes normally take the form of a licensing and registration system, which may apply to both fishing vessels and individual fishermen wishing to exploit the resources. This paper looks at these national laws in relation to the rights granted to nationals of the Caribbean Community by the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), specifically the fundamental rights consisting, inter alia, of the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services. The issue is whether these domestic rules of law for licensing of fishing vessels and fishermen, are capable of hindering or frustrating the achievement of the CSME’s objectives in respect of fisheries. The basic objective of the CSME is the establishment of a single internal market having the characteristics of a domestic market that is without barriers in which the free movement of goods, services, and capital is ensured in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Treaty.

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