The Small Grants Fund

The Small Grants Fund for Sustainable Fisheries and Alternative Livelihoods

With funding provided since 2005 by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the SPAW Programme of the UNEP CEP has made available a Small Grant Fund administered by GCFI for promoting sustainable fishing practices and alternative livelihoods for fishers. This fund forms part of the CEP/SPAW initiative to develop adequate management plans and programmes for priority species of regional concern including those of economic value.  Funds can be accessed for a maximum of US$15,000. The application form is available for download at the bottom of the page. The Small Grant Fund  is open for organizations or institutions (individual applications will not be considered). Only successful applicants will be contacted to submit additional information.

2008-2009

Caribbean fishers collaborating on suitable gear and techniques that will contribute to sustainable fisheries – Grenada

Hosted by the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations. The use of some fishing gear and techniques can result in negative impacts on the ecosystem, reducing fishers’ ability to sustain catches and livelihoods. The Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO) has as its mission“to improve the quality of life for fisherfolk and develop sustainable and profitable industry through networking, representation and capacity building” to be “…achieved through the ecosystem based management of fisheries resources”. In order to do this, fishers need to understand ecosystem based management (EBM) and its relationships to their livelihood activities. Exchanges of knowledge and information about the practices adopted by fishers in their respective countries in the fisheries for lobster, reef fish, snappers and pelagics would be valuable in determining what gear and techniques would best contribute towards sustainable harvesting of our resources and sustainable livelihoods. CNFO is a network of fisherfolk leaders well equipped to benefit from such an exchange and share the benefits with others through its organisational membership. Its external partners in this include Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Instistute (GCFI), Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), University of the West indies – Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), Caribbean Natural Resources Instistute (CANARI) and others with similar aims.

The CNFO, with the financial assistance of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), executed the project Caribbean fishers collaborating on suitable gear and techniques that will contribute to sustainable fisheries. Fishers from ten different fisherfolk organisations and nine Caribbean countries participated in the exchange held in Gouyave, St. Johns, Grenada, during 1st to 3rd April 2009. In addition to fishers there were resource persons from the University of the West Indies’ Centre for Environment Research and Management Studies (CERMES) and from the Grenada Fisheries Division.

The exchange involved interactive presentations using multimedia projector and flipchart. Also included were practical sessions which allowed participants to produce, examine and discuss some of the gear and techniques presented. Participants were able, using knowledge gained, to produce a list of recommendations on gear and techniques. <read the full report - pdf>

Gladding Memorial Award Regional Fishers Summit — Fishers Working for Sustainable Fisheries – Miami

Hosted by the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute In 2004, the Gulf Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other partners developed the Gladding Memorial Award (GMA), named in honor of patriarch fisherman Peter Gladding. The award annually recognizes fishers who demonstrate, through word and action, their commitment to sustainable use and conservation of marine resources in the Caribbean and Gulf region. To date, the following ten fishers have received the award (Annex 1 provides their affiliations).

The GMA is a fundamental part of GCFI’s Fisheries for Fishers Initiative which provides capacity and empowers fishers to participate in the regional marine resource governance process, which also includes Fishers Forums held at recent GCFI events. The ethic of long-term sustainability endorsed by GMA recipients in concert with their accomplishments and commitment to engage organized fishers and other stakeholders in the wise use and conservation of regional marine resources attest to the success of the GMA program.

A momentum has grown around the GMA that is fueled by the fishers themselves and the landscape reality that there are no other initiatives in the region that are attempting to incentivize fisher best practices at this scale. Therefore the GMA Committee within the GCFI Board of Directors has initiated a controlled expansion of the GMA initiative to utilize more of the award’s growing potential. To actualize these opportunities, a GMA Summit, the Gladding Memorial Award Regional Fishers Summit, with the sub-title ‘Fishers Working for Sustainable Fisheries’ is being planned as a principal component of the 62nd Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) which will convene in Cumaná, Venezuela during 2-6 November 2009. Informed approaches to long-term sustainability and conservation of marine resources in the region must include input from fishers, and the Summit, a regional landmark event, is based on the premise that sustainable livelihoods and use of marine resources in the region depend on responsible fishers being ‘at the table’ for discussions on how best to achieve these goals.

The GMA Summit Steering Committee was formed to identify opportunities available to fishers and managers relative to the fisher-driven Summit. The committee held its first meeting in Miami, Florida from May 11-13 to coordinate Caribbean-wide planning for this special event. Participants in the meeting included four GMA recipients: Don DeMaria, Anderson Kinch, Jaime Medina and Toribio Mata, and Mitchell Lay (leader of the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organizations), members of the GMA committee and other invitees.

Properly coordinated planning for the Summit was necessary to provide the unique opportunity to develop a ‘framework for action’ that emphasizes fisher regional networking and cooperation keyed on regional strategies for sustainable marine resource use with fishers and other fisherfolk having a direct role in decision-making and implementation. The meeting included one and one-half days of interactive discussions conducted within a series of technical sessions, followed by a visit to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), Southeast Fisheries Science Center. A multimedia projector was used during the session discussions for purposes of ‘note taking’ and recording pertinent discussion points, thereby enabling all meeting participants to become fully engaged in the discussion process. The meeting was characterized as a ‘collective’ of ideas, opinions and perspectives from those who, according to GMA recipient Capt. Anderson Kinch, ‘fish, study fish or eat fish’.

Following the technical session discussions, participants ranked (Highest, Medium, Lowest) each session topic as to its priority as a potential Summit agenda item based on its level of interest to all regional fishers, some fishers, and other GCFI participants (scientists, managers, etc.). Those rankings revealed a hierarchy of session themes that represented issues to be given summit level consideration. Furthermore, a consensus was reached regarding the general content (ingredients) of the Summit:

• What is the Summit’s main message
• Oral tradition of fishers; they prefer to talk
• Delivery aimed to facilitate retention of messages
• Minimal technology, maybe just photos
• Product required to capture “stories”
• GMA fishers as ambassadors
• Summit needs to “work for” GMA winners
• Use case “stories” NOT typical presentations
• Fisher advocacy as stakeholders and decision-makers

The Steering Committee identified priority areas to frame agenda development for the November Summit and developed details on how best to optimize GMA recipient and other fishing leader inputs. It was agreed that to succeed, the Summit must bring together all GMA recipients, other fishers representing a wide cultural diversity, managers, scientists, educators, students, private sector, and recipients of the UNEP/GCFI Small Grant Funds for Sustainable Fisheries and Alternative Livelihoods, in a facilitated, language interpreted event. Core Summit objectives are:

1. developing priorities for the long-term sustainability of the region’s marine resources, and hence sustainable livelihoods, from the fishers’ perspective;
2. recommending how organized fishers from across the region can have a voice in following up on those priorities or other fisheries initiatives.