The “Enhancing capacity for the adoption and implementation of Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) in the shrimp and groundfish fisheries of the North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (EAF4SG),” project will conduct an Implementation Monitoring Tool (IMT) refresher training on 25 February 2025.

The virtual training will provide stakeholders from the EAF4SG project’s participating countries and others with an additional tool to assess progress and evaluate the current gaps in EAF implementation in shrimp and groundfish fisheries. EAF strives to balance diverse societal objectives, by considering the knowledge and uncertainties about biotic, abiotic and human components of ecosystems and their interactions, and applying an integrated approach to fisheries within ecologically meaningful boundaries. It provides a framework for the realisation of sustainable development in fisheries including in the preparation and implementation of fisheries management plans. To guide this process, several training supports have been developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in relation to EAF implementation monitoring, one of them being the IMT.

The overall objective of the workshop is to disseminate the use of EAF IMT as a tool for fisheries management. This objective is in line with the EAF4SG project’s work plan and output 2.2.2: Capacity for monitoring of implementation of Fisheries Management Plans for national Shrimp and Groundfish fisheries improved. Topics to be covered include concept and methodology of the EAF IMT, as well as scoring of different components.

Participants will include representatives from the EAF4SG project’s participating countries as well as Barbados. After the online refresher session, there will be country specific workshops to score the fisheries and complete scoring documents for each fishery as per the EAF IMT scoring rationale and dashboard.   

The EAF4SG project which seeks to enhance the knowledge base and governance frameworks for fisheries management at local, national and sub-regional levels, is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund in the amount of USD 1.7 million, implemented by the FAO and executed by the Faculty of Food and Agriculture (FFA) of The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus. Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago (TT) are participating countries of the project which is expected to be implemented over four years.