Report Of The Regional Workshop On The Effects Of Globalization And Deregulation On Fisheries In The Caribbean Castries Saint Lucia 4 8 December 2000

This report contains a record of the proceedings and recommendations of the workshop. It was attended by twenty-one participants from ten Caribbean countries, as well as FAO officers. Possible positive impacts of globalization identified at the workshop include: improved access to overseas markets; increase in intraregional trade; access to technological improvements; increased demand for fish products through further development of tourism; increase in the contribution of the fisheries sector to foreign currency earnings and to gross domestic product. Possible negative impacts were foreseen in terms of: higher prices of exportable fish products in domestic markets; increased pressure on fully or overexploited fish stocks; erosion of decision-making at various levels in the absence of adequate reforms in governance; difficulties on the part of small countries in meeting scales of production needed to compete in a global environment. The main outcome of the workshop is the formulation of a Caribbean Fisheries Agenda on Globalization (CFAG), which is aimed to aid Caribbean countries prepare for the challenges of globalization.