During 2004 and 2005, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), assisted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), carried out case studies in Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands on the consideration of socio-economic and demographic concerns in fisheries and coastal area management and planning. Among the needs identified in the case studies are: (i) assistance to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states to identify and map boundaries of the coastal ecosystem; (ii) formulation of appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks within which management and conservation of fisheries and coastal resources can be effected; (iii) greater awareness of the need for collection and use of socio-economic and demographic indicators in fisheries and coastal resource management; (iv) building the capacity of stakeholder groups and training programmes to include social science in coastal resource management; (v) implementation of a subregional project for analysis of socio-economic and demographic data for use in planning, management and conservation of fisheries and coastal resources; (vi) countryspecific estimates of the economic and social contribution of the fisheries sector and individual fisheries to GDP; (vii) integration of socio-economic and demographic considerations into coastal area management and national fisheries management plans; (viii) information sharing on case studies in which socio-economic and demographic indicators have been integrated into fisheries and coastal planning and management; (ix) improvement of fisheries data systems to include relevant socio-economic and demographic data; and (x) identification of socio-economic costs and benefits of the development of a common fisheries regime within CARICOM.

In addition to these case studies undertaken in the Caribbean, a study team from the Caribbean carried out a comparative study on the use of demographic and socioeconomic information in coastal and fisheries management, planning and conservation in Malaysia and the Philippines.

The findings of these studies were reviewed by a regional workshop, held 13–17 June 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago. Most workshop recommendations focus on actions to be taken by national governments, such as promoting the development of fishing communities through fishers’ and community-based organizations; review by each country of its legal framework and establishment of task forces comprised of government agencies, industry and other stakeholders; policy direction to promote economic and social development of fishing communities and community-based organizations and creation of fisheries development units under the fisheries departments.

Activities for follow-up by FAO include: (i) assistance in the development of materials on community-based fisheries management and the collection and use of socio-economic, demographic and cultural information for use by fisheries extension personnel and fishers’ organizations; and (ii) provision of technical advice on fisheries port development and management for and with the participation of coastal communities and major stakeholders.