Fish underwater. Credit: BVI National Trust
Strengthening fisherfolk capacity, governance, infrastructure and skills, including the capture, storage, analysis and interpretation of fisheries data, thereby enhancing sustainable management of fisheries in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) (July 2020–June 2024).
About the Project
In order to strengthen the capacity of fisherfolk in the BVI to more effectively participate in governance at the national level, in July 2020 the United Kingdom (UK) Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) began collaboration to implement the project “Capacity building in fisheries evidence, networks and management in the British Virgin Islands”. A survey of leaders of formal or informal fisherfolk organisations in each of the main VI islands confirmed that there was a need to strengthen the capacity of VI fisherfolk and support the development of a formalised network of fisherfolk to enable a collective voice and greater participation in decision-making.
CANARI lead the implementation of Component 1 in collaboration with the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO).
How has this project benefitted the Caribbean region?
The project strengthened the capacity of fisherfolk in the BVI to more effectively participate in governance at the national level by helping to build fisherfolk capacity, governance, infrastructure and skills, including the capture, storage, analysis and interpretation of fisheries data by creating a formalised network of fisherfolk, reviewing and consolidating the existing evidence base, and developing a geographic information systems (GIS) database to bring together existing and future fisheries data.
What activities did we undertake to achieve this?
- Strengthening fisherfolk capacity and governance: by supporting the development of a formalised network of fisherfolk; through capacity building activities including training, fisherfolk learning exchanges and the provision of small grants to demonstrate best practices and innovations in sustainable fisheries management. See brief on Component 1 here.
- Production of a comprehensive fisheries evidence report: including local and scientific knowledge and maps for use in future fisheries and marine management, as well as identifying key evidence gaps.
- Creation of a centralized GIS fisheries evidence database: integrating all existing fisheries data including spatial data. This would be transferred to the Government of the Virgin Islands to support future use and maintenance of the fisheries evidence base going forward, along with training in the skills needed to produce, interrogate, visualise and analyse the data.
- Knowledge transfer and institutional capacity building: through in-country workshops, production of tailored guides and training materials and training and handover of the GIS database and the fisheries evidence report.
What did we achieve?
Project-related publications
Project news and information
- Virgin Islands Fisherfolk get inspiration from their Barbadian peers
- Virgin Islands fisherfolk to benefit from pilot projects to mitigate sargassum influxes and ghost fishing
- CANARI works with partners to strengthen fisherfolk networks and governance in the BVI
- New £317,000 project launched on sustainable fisheries management in the Virgin Islands
- The Government of the Virgin Islands has partnered with the UK Government for Sustainable Fisheries Management in the Virgin Islands with the launch of a new £317,000 project
For more information about this project
- Project brief
- Visit the Cefas webpage at www.cefas.co.uk
- Contact Anna Cadiz-Hadeed, CANARI Acting Executive Director, at anna@canari.org
Related Programmes