Anguilla 
Antigua and Barbuda 
Grenada 
Bahamas 
Barbados 
Belize 
Dominica 
Guyana 
Haiti 
Jamaica 
Montserrat 
St. Kitts and Nevis 
St. Lucia 
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 
Suriname 
Trinidad and Tobago 
Turks and Caicos 
A Review of National Intersectoral Committee (NIC) Governance Arrangements for Shrimp and Groundfish in the Northern Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NBSLME)
Sanya S. Compton
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ABSTRACT
In the context of climate change and blue economic growth, the sustainable use of marine resources (including fisheries) is of national importance and interest. The countries within the Northern Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NBSLME) are faced with many fisheries governance challenges. The movement of some shrimp and groundfish stocks across national marine jurisdictional boundaries requires national-level management measures that are well-aligned with transboundary approaches.
The successful implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) across the wider Caribbean is an objective of several international and regional partners. In 2019-2020 the Food and Agriculture Organization on the United National (FAO) and the University of the West Indies Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (UWI-CERMES) collaborated under the Caribbean Large Maine Ecosystem and Northern Brazil Shelf (CLME+) Project (2015-2020) sub-project on “Ecosystem Approach to Shrimp and Groundfish Fisheries in the North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem”. One of the key activities of the sub-project was an assessment of participatory governance arrangements, specifically national intersectoral committees (NICs) for marine and ocean governance, their existence and function, in three study countries (Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago).
This paper presents a review of the assessment of governance arrangements conducted for each country under the sub-project. Primary and secondary data were collected through literature review, content analysis, key informant interviews, workshops, and observations. For the purpose of this paper, key stakeholders in each country were consulted in June-July 2023 in order to validate and update information relevant to the current status of NICs. A main finding of the country assessments was that Fisheries Advisory Committees or Councils, where they existed, were the most suitable NIC for participatory governance. While information on NICs remains elusive, the paper also presents good governance principles useful to guide NICs in the NBSLME and beyond.
HOW TO CITE: Compton, S.S., 2026. A Review of National Intersectoral Committee (NIC) Governance Arrangements for Shrimp and Groundfish in the Northern Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NBSLME). Contribution 2.4, p64-71 IN CRFM, 2026. Volume I: Technical Papers. Presented at the CRFM 20th Anniversary Scientific Conference, 28-31 August 2023. CRFM Special Publication No. 37, CRFM Secretariat https://www.crfm.int/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=902
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