Right now, representatives of the fisheries authorities of the SICA member countries are in Belize to discuss important transboundary issues pertaining to fisheries, since the Central American nations all share same oceans which make up their territorial waters.
It's well known that illegal fishing takes place at the borders between the countries. So, in order to combat this and to address other challenges threatening the fisheries industries of the SICA member states, a technical committee was formed to pool resources and share knowledge of enforcement best practices.
That Committee is called OSPESCA, and 7News stopped by to speak with the representatives for day 1 of their technical meeting. Here's what they told us about the topics they intend to discuss:
Culeika Pinzon - Head, Aquatic Resources Authority, Panama
"We are all here, the representatives of the fisheries and aquaculture authorities of OSPESCA, which includes Belize and the Central American countries, also the Dominican Republic.The main objective of this meeting is to treat the concerns regarding the transboundary issues. We have come cases that happens on illegal fishing between the countries, and we are looking for ways how to deal with that. Because in OSPESCA, we have some protocols and rules on how to get strengthened on these interests of all of the countries to fight against the illegal fisheries, the unreported and undeclared, as part of our commitment with the region."
"We are talking about participation in - right now we are having a vessel that is going into our waters doing research. It's research vessel from a cooperation with Mexico because in Central America and Belize, we don't have vessels for research in fisheries. So, we're having that vessel right now in the Pacific waters of the region. It already went into the Atlantic. And what are we going to do with information and those resources. We are also dealing with the illegal fisheries in transboundary regions."
Beverly Wade - Fisheries Administrator
"It's an important meeting for us as OSPESCA, the countries of Central America, and of course Belize, which currently holds the pro-temp presidency of SICA. And so, it's an opportunity for us to look at transboundary related to fisheries. As countries we're obligated, both internationally, regionally, and as neighbors to cooperate with each other to look at matters such as illegal fishing, to look at matters such as joint research, so that we can have a better understanding of what the status of our resources are, and to basically come together and support each other technically, and even from a management standpoint, to strengthen our management systems in the region, so that our regional fisheries could continue to be viable and economically significant for our people in our various countries."
The 2-day meeting concludes tomorrow.
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