by Linda Straker
- Fishers registered with the Ministry of Fisheries will be able to receive compensation for assets damaged during extreme weather conditions
- US Government is contributing towards the first year of the insurance policy
As of 1 July 2018, fishers in Grenada registered with the Ministry of Fisheries will be able to receive compensation for assets that are damaged during extreme weather conditions because government has approved parametric insurance for the fishing industry.
The Ministry of Climate Resilience, the Environment, Forestry, Fisheries, Disaster Management and Information has received Cabinet approval for the implementation of the Caribbean Ocean Assets Sustainability Facility. The implementation will be in collaboration with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility.
Fisheries Minister Alvin Dabreo has confirmed that the US Government is contributing towards the first year of the insurance policy for the 3,404 registered fishers on the island. The contribution is US$100,000.
“And we thank them very much for this, it is very much appreciated, this speaks to the type of relationship between both states,” he said while attending the 242nd independence celebration of the USA on Tuesday night.
A news release from the Climate Resilience ministry said that it is envisioned that the project will support climate resilience through two objectives, namely: To protect the food security of fishers, and to promote sustainable livelihoods in the fishing sector.
Since 2015, United States Department of State has been partnering with the World Bank, CRFM, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), CNFO, and others to develop a parametric insurance product to be implemented by Caribbean governments to promote the resilience of their fisheries sector against the peril of increasing climate-change related disaster risk.
The insurance policy is structured in a way to provide incentive for regional governments to promote and implement international best practices in fisheries management and a disaster risk management.
Countries are evaluated to determine how well they are doing in implementing these best practices before they purchase this sovereign policy. An explanation on the CCRIF website said that the policy would protect country-level income from fishing industries, with parametric triggers designed to pay-out when they face losses and loss of revenue due to inclement weather, storms and other weather or catastrophe related factors.
The parametric insurance policy for fishermen will be based on the CCRIF SPC’s existing livelihood protection policy (LPP), designed to compensate people when weather or catastrophe conditions impact their ability to earn a living. Livelihood Protection Policy is designed to protect low-income people against extreme weather risks.
Merina Jessamy, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Fisheries said that the policy would provide compensation for assets. She also said that the ministry is making arrangements for hosting island wide sensitisation workshops with fishers to discuss the rollout of COAST.
“The fishers will not have to pay towards the policy in the first year because its covered by the US Government. During the workshop we will explain to the fishers how the policy will benefit them and at the same time how they will contribute as of the second year,” she said.
It is understood that the plan is to have fishers make their contribution through the annual registration. Presently, small boats up to 25 feet pay EC$5 Vessel Inspection Fee and boats above 25 feet pay EC$15.
