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The Committee has been commenting for a number of years on the failure of the Government to take any measures to apply the Convention since its ratification in 1972. The Committee notes with regret that, based on the information contained in the Government’s last report, no progress has been made regarding the adoption of laws and regulations giving effect to the provisions of Parts II (Certification), III (Examinations) and IV (Enforcement measures) of the Convention. The Government refers to the Shipping Act No. 24 of 1987 as partially applicable to the fishing sector but specifies that the ministerial regulations provided for in section 87(1) of the Act regarding the certification of competency of masters, officers and engineers of fishing vessels have not as yet been issued. The Government further indicates that the Caribbean Fisheries Training and Development Institute provides training for personnel in the fishing industry and issues certificates of participation upon the completion of its training programmes.

The Committee hopes that, in the interest of maintaining a meaningful dialogue with the supervisory organs of the ILO, the Government will make every effort, without further delay, to ensure full compliance with the requirements of the Convention in law and in practice. The Committee recalls that the Government may avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office in this respect. The Committee requests the Government to provide general information on the fishing sector including, for instance, up-to-date statistics on the number of registered fishermen, the type and number of fishing vessels, the activities of the Caribbean Fisheries Training and Development Institute and the number of fishermen trained per year, as well as any other particulars bearing on the manner the Convention is applied in practice.