Abstract

Fisheries for large pelagic resources are important to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries. Many countries have been expanding these fisheries, and others have expressed the intention to do so. The management of tunas and tunalike species in the Atlantic Ocean is the mandate of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). several of these resources are fully or overexploited, with most of the catch being taken by large fishing nations of the Atlantic and distant water fleets.\There is an urgent need for CARICOM countries to ensure that they will get a fair long-term share of the sustainable yield oflarge pelagic resources in the Atlantic Ocean. ICCAT has recently re-examined the criteria and is attempting to improve the process for allocating these resources among countries that fish in the Atlantic.\CARICOM countries, many of them small island developing States (SIDS), have reached a common position that differs in several important respects from the position of the larger industrialized fishing nations. The principles underlying these positions depend on interpretations of clauses in the relevant UN Agreements that pertain to the treatment of new participants in these fisheries, the provisions for developing states, and the capacity for responsible management, as well as other factors.\Also at issue is the management of stocks of small tuna and tuna-like species such as wahoo, Scomberomorus species and blackfin tuna, which are less widely distributed than the large tuna and billfish species. ICCAT monitors catch trends for most of these small tuna species, but their management is best handled by the appropriate regional or sub-regional arrangement CARICOM countries are in the initial stages of exploring options for managing those pelagic species within their jurisdiction.

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