CARIBBEAN-CARICOM IMPACS launches “Fish and Flags” report series.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) Friday said it has launched a comprehensive report series providing policymakers, enforcement agencies, and industry leaders with an essential, actionable roadmap to transition from environmental vulnerability to sustainable blue prosperity.

IMPACS said that the initiative, undertaken in collaboration with the US-based Auxilium Worldwide, is a non-profit organization focused on fostering global harmony by supporting good governance, sustainable development, environmental stewardship, and human security.

It said that the comprehensive report and strategic recommendations are under the theme “Fish and Flags: Supporting Caribbean countries in Moving from Threatened to Thriving” and that the virtual launch attracted over 125 participants, marking a pivotal step in the collective effort to address the escalating threats facing the Caribbean Sea, the Region’s vital lifeblood.

“This launch is a powerful demonstration of our collective commitment to regional security, especially as the Caribbean continues to grapple with the emerging and evolving challenges of environmental crime and natural resource exploitation,” said Lt. Col. Michael Jones, CARICOM IMPACS’s executive director.

He said that CARICOM IMPACS has noticed a rapid acceleration in the activities of transnational organised criminal networks exploiting the Region’s natural resources for profit.

“The fisheries sector is now a prime target. Criminal actors are diversifying their activities far beyond the well-known crimes that law enforcement typically monitors. Organised criminals are evolving and leveraging knowledge gaps in natural resource and environmental crime to evade detection, he said.

Jones added that the reports launched were the result of intensive research and collaboration and provide a detailed roadmap, with intelligence and recommendations, for immediate, unified action among Member States to secure the Caribbean Region’s marine wealth against the complex challenges posed by transnational organised crime.

Auxilium Worldwide president, Dr. Ian Ralby, said they were proud to collaborate with CARICOM IMPACS on this critical initiative and noted that the data clearly shows that Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, as well as fisheries crime, are not just environmental issues but serious security and economic threats that undermine the rule of law and the sovereignty of Caribbean States.

“The reports provide a framework for a coordinated, transnational response that is necessary to move the Caribbean from merely threatened to truly thriving, he added.

The “Fish and Flags” initiative synthesises extensive research, country consultations, and expert analysis, focusing on the sophisticated methods used by criminal organisations to exploit the Region’s marine resources.

The recommendations outlined in the reports aim to strengthen regional enforcement capacity, harmonise maritime legislation, and enhance transparency in vessel registration to tackle these vulnerabilities, thereby better protecting the CARICOM region’s marine ecosystems, safeguarding its fisheries, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the blue economy.