May_BVC

18 19 development of insurance policies. There are two separate insurance products being developed: one is a sovereign, parametric policy which would be available for purchase by governments, and the other is a basic livelihood protection policy for purchase by individual small-scale fisheries. The US-sponsored Caribbean Oceans and Aqua- culture Sustainability Facility (COAST) is being developed by the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SPC) in collaboration with the World Bank, CRFM, and other partners. The COAST insurance policy is intended to serve as a platform for inno- vative financing to address food and livelihood security and climate change. Incentives would be given through the risk insurance policy to imple- ment measures that contribute to sustainable and climate resilient fisheries management and disaster risk reduction. The need for livelihood protection was under- scored by the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Caribbean during the 2017 hurricane season. The Forum expressed its full support for the development of a protocol to in- corporate climate change adaptation and disaster risk management into the Caribbean Community OPENING LINES (CARICOM) Common Fisheries Policy. The Forum also reviewed and supported the development of a gender policy for the fisher- ies sector, and a regional protocol on securing sustainable small-scale fisheries for Caribbean Community fisherfolk and societies. This protocol is being developed under the Caribbean Commu- nity Common Fisheries Policy. The recommendations were developed in order to protect the region’s fisheries resources from the threat of overexploitation and emerging threats such as climate change and warming oceans.They also aim to enhance the livelihoods, social welfare and wealth creation from the marine resources. According to CRFM’s Executive Director, Milton Haughton, the time has arrived for CARICOM countries to pay more careful attention and make the investments necessary to protect and fully utilize our coastal and ocean resources for sus- tainable development. The 16th meeting of the Forum was the first meeting of the CRFM held in Montserrat, one of the 17 member states of the CRFM, due to the destruction of the capital city, Plymouth, by the Soufrière Hills volcano which began erupting in the mid-1990s.