A handing-over ceremony held on Thursday, 3 March 2016, was the culmination of an Ice Box investment project funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and The Environment in collaboration with the UNDP–Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies (ICCAS) project.
30 ice boxes were built and presented to The Grenville FAD Fisher Organization. This initiative sought to assist the Grenville Fishing community in achieving the aim of producing quality assured grade 1 and 2 quality fish for the export market.
The Grenville FAD Fisher Organization is a non-profit organization which promotes sustainable utilization of marine resources, using an ecosystem approach and community-based management to ensure that overfishing does not take place, and that landing poor quality fish will be a thing of the past in the Grenville area.
In November 2015, the UNDP ICCAS awarded EC$82,369 (US$30,317) to the Grenville FAD Fishers in an award ceremony held at the Grenada Trade Centre Annex. These funds were given to allow the organization to succeed in their project objectives of maintaining good quality fish from post-harvest to the final consumer, and reducing post-harvest spoilage by storing fish in ice at sea.
At the ceremony, Mr Moran Mitchell, Fisheries Gear Technologist, gave a brief training on proper care and handling instructions of the ice boxes, the proper care of fish, and the benefits of ice boxes as an adaptive measure to climate change effects.
The Fishermen, in receiving the ice boxes, stated that this will allow them to stay out on their fishing expeditions longer, as they can now safely store their catch and be assured that their landed fish would not succumb to spoilage due to excessive heat and other weather conditions out on the water.
This investment by the UNDP–ICCAS project will impact not only the livelihoods of the fishers, but also their families and the community as a whole.
The ICCAS project is part of the International Climate Change Initiative funded by the German government, to assist Grenada to adapt to climate change, and is executed through the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and the Environment.
