Fisheries sector expected to benefit from grant funding

Participants at the Fisheries workshop
Participants at the Fisheries workshop

The Fisheries sector here is expected to benefit in the area of capacity building, come mid-June when financing from a grant from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is expected to be opened for application.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of a two day workshop intended to “Strengthen Caribbean Fisher folk to participate in Governance and Management”, President of the National Association of Fisher folk Cooperatives (NAFCOOP), Huron Vidal said, they intend to apply for the € 10,000 grant.

“We intend to write a project for €10,000 that we are going to use to help strengthen NAFCOOP and the cooperatives under the umbrella.”

The funding is part of an € 100,000 that is available for the primary, national and regional fisher folk organizations from 17 project countries (which Dominica is part of). The minimum amount that a country can apply for is € 1,000 and €10,000 the maximum.

Technical Officer at the CANARI, Keisha Sandy, explained that the funding is intended to meet those needs that the general project will not be able to meet. “So for example in Dominica, we heard from several of the participants that they needed money to start an organization. So the grant can be used for that. It can also be used to build financial management capacity.”

Huron Vidal, President of the National Association of Fisher folk Cooperatives (NAFCOOP).
Huron Vidal, President of the National Association of Fisher folk Cooperatives (NAFCOOP).

Vidal also mentioned that they have already begun the process of finding out from the various cooperatives what their challenges are and to try to assist them in that regard.

“What we realize that in the cooperative structure there is no space for a paid person, who is accountable to do the work of the cooperative. And the cooperative is supposed to be a business and you cannot have volunteers operating a business, as far as I’m concerned that is a waste of time,” he said.

The President of NAFCOOP also noted that there are a few cooperatives on island with paid assistants. “And you can see that helps the cooperative to move up and this is what we are hoping that we can achieve in getting that type of assistance to the cooperative to help them to be sustainable individually.”

One of the participants, Corbette Bully, said that he was grateful for the workshop and has learnt a lot. “My desire is to when I go home, I can educate my friends more about fishing,” he said.

Another participant, Zephra Baron, who is the reigning fish queen (a fish competition where the best prepared dish won) said “the two days spent here was well spent. The time was managed effectively. We were able to look at the challenges and the needs of our cooperative and NAFCOOP as a whole. We were able to have a collective conversation. I don’t think anybody here can say that they were left out. And we were grateful and we are looking forward to when the grant is open, so we can take advantage of that pot of money.”

Business management consultant and mentor, St. Bernard Sebastien, also said that he was excited about the project but indicated that as someone with a background in finance, he is concerned about the financial viability of a number of the fisheries cooperatives.

“We would expect that some of the resources could be provided and utilized, to enable some of the affiliated fisheries cooperatives to be brought to a level of self sustainability.”

He also urged non-members of NAFCOOP to join.

The workshop was facilitated by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) in partnership with other related organizations such as the Center for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) of the University of the West Indies. It was funded by the European Union.

Areas covered include: organizational development and good governance for fisher folk organizations, including financial management and fund raising.

A total of 25 persons involved in the fishing industry took part in the workshop.

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6 Comments

  1. Miss
    January 24, 2014

    Spell Check DNO,her name is “Zethra Baron”. 8)

  2. Miss
    January 24, 2014

    To the next level…great venture….

  3. anonymous
    January 23, 2014

    sorry you can not buy your gas any cheaper than the next man ,,only campany for they do tax return
    an get back the tax on there money .at the end tax year ,,so register your self as a workshop/co op. an go to finance,

  4. Herbert Sabaroche
    January 23, 2014

    Congratulations to all those involved in such a venture. I do know that many individuals like Vidal, St. Bernard and others especially from the Fisheries Division and the fishing communities in Dominica are committed in terms of promoting effective management of the emerging Fisher folk cooperative bodies.
    Transparent use of the funds and accountability will be critical so as to open doors for additional funding even from other bilateral and international agencies.
    Fisher folks in Dominica can certainly contribute towards lessening the importation of fish and fish product since the potential is there to increase cash which is beneficial to the employment situation and thus the economic challenges of the fishing communities.
    Let all provide tangible support for such initiatives.
    Sabie

  5. Anonymous
    January 22, 2014

    A pot of money, that will be an empty pot very soon with very little to show for it.

  6. yetty
    January 22, 2014

    all them fishermen need is to pay less for gas

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