Abstract

In the Caribbean Community, regional and national fisheries-related programmes and projects seek to promote an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). This calls for a bottom-up approach to policy influencing and execution. Through experience, the limitations on fisherfolk organisations (FFOs) to participate in these processes have become more obvious. According to the literature, there are three types of policy influencing activity: evidence and advice, public campaigns and advocacy, and lobbying and negotiation. As such, FFOs need to develop adequate capacity (world view, organisational culture, structures, skills and knowledge, financial and physical resources, relationships, and adaptive capacity) in these three areas if they are to effectively make use of the opportunities for policy influence at the national, regional and global levels. This paper looks at the issues facing FFOs in the Caribbean Community, such as inadequate internal governance, ineffective leadership, insufficient participatory planning and mobilisation of members, and their impacts on the FFOs’ ability to influence policy. It assesses the dilemma that FFOs face in that many of the fisheries and related policies on food security (e.g. Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines, Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy) speak to addressing their issues, but require negotiation and advocacy for the policies to be properly resourced and implemented. It examines the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO) and the role it can play in addressing the issues identified through effective leadership, planning, resource mobilisation, capacity building, and policy influencing.

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