OECS Fisheries Management and Development Strategy and Implementation Plan

Fisheries play an important and sometimes underrated part in the economies of OECS Member States, providing both full-time, part-time and seasonal employment, contributing sig11ificantly botl1 to domestic food security and national GDP (table 1). Current methods of evaluating the contribution of fisheries to the economies of OECS Member States may overlook any incremental economic benefit of tl1e export market, as well as support services to the industry. In fact, it may even be argued tl1at in addition to the value added as a consequence ofexport markets, expenditure on tl1e sector such as investment in infrastructure, marketing, subsidies, and the like, could be seen as contributing to the overall value of the industry. From another point of view, employment in the fisheries sector must be considered to extend to, and include, persons otl1er tl1an those who catch the fish

Fisheries play an important and sometimes underrated part in the economies of OECS Member States, providing both full-time, part-time and seasonal employment, contributing sig11ificantly botl1 to domestic food security and national GDP (table 1). Current methods of evaluating the contribution of fisheries to the economies of OECS Member States may overlook any incremental economic benefit of tl1e export market, as well as support services to the industry. In fact, it may even be argued tl1at in addition to the value added as a consequence ofexport markets, expenditure on tl1e sector such as investment in infrastructure, marketing, subsidies, and the like, could be seen as contributing to the overall value of the industry. From another point of view, employment in the fisheries sector must be considered to extend to, and include, persons otl1er tl1an those who catch the fish