This paper will focus on the opportunities for aquaculture development for the CARICOM region and will identify key indicators for its success. The target is the CARICOM Group of Countries which span an area of over 2.6 million km2 and comprises mostly small developing states of the former British, French, Spanish, and Dutch colonial empires and current dependencies of the West Indies, including; Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago and others. While each country has its priorities, many issues are similar and there is scope for sharing experiences and expertise across the region.
Aquaculture is globally the fastest-growing food sector, with an annual growth rate of 8.8 percent. However, production in the Caribbean region has declined by 40 percent over the last two decades. Aquaculture is commonly associated with the intensive culture of salmon in developed countries and the culture of tilapia and shrimp in developing countries. The suit of species to be cultured in the region goes beyond these given the diverse ecosystems and may include species such as conch, marine finfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, aquarium species, oysters, mussels, seaweeds and other aquatic plants, to name a few. Many blue foods are rich in bioavailable micronutrients and can be produced more sustainably. For Caribbean countries, aquaculture has the potential to positively address the problems of nutrition and food insecurity, the unsustainable exploitation of marine resources, and socio-economic inequalities, especially as it relates to the involvement of women. Conventional approaches to promoting aquaculture have largely failed. Most components necessary for aquaculture development in the region remain underdeveloped, including human and technical resources and the general knowledge required to take advantage of its opportunities. For instance, the vast coastal areas have hardly been explored for Mariculture / Blue foods development which can become the cornerstone of coastal communities. Additionally, given the critical state of important marine ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves due to overexploitation, the potential for aquaculture as an alternate source of fish protein and alternative livelihood activities has yet to be taken seriously.
Despite these weaknesses, the basic institutional framework to facilitate aquaculture development exists under the regional CARICOM body and in most countries. This Caribbean Aquaculture Network (CAN) seeks to leverage and strengthen this framework through women-led scientific research, with the introduction of aquaculture curriculum in secondary and tertiary institutions, and partnership initiatives to realize regional targets such as the CARICOM commitment to a 25 percent reduction in food imports by 2025 and the global 2030 agenda. In this way, we intend to identify and monitor key performance indicators at all levels of human and technical capacity in aquaculture production including the participation of women and youth.