The Inception Workshop for the Developing Organizational Capacity for Ecosystem Stewardship and Livelihoods in Caribbean Small-Scale Fisheries (StewardFish) project was convened at United Nations House, in Barbados, from 13 to 14 September 2018. In attendance, were representatives of the fisheries authorities (national executing partners) from the seven project countries, five regional executing partner organizations (CANARI, CERMES-UWI, CNFO, CRFM, WECAFC), fisherfolk leaders from national fisherfolk organizations/lead primary fisherfolk organizations in the project countries as well as representatives from other fisheries-related national and regional agencies. The overall objective of the workshop was to bring together key partners and stakeholders who would be involved in the delivery of the project to ensure that there was a common understanding of the project objectives, components, outcomes, outputs and planned activities as well as the roles and responsibilities of all partners. Achievements of the workshop included (i) review and agreement on the project institutional and implementation arrangements; (ii) review and agreement on the project components, outcomes, outputs and planned activities and the results matrix; (iii) review and adjustments to country work plans; (iv) mapping out of the LOAs; and (iv) review and agreement on the monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

The project “Developing Organizational Capacity for Ecosystem Stewardship and Livelihoods in Caribbean Small-Scale Fisheries” (StewardFish) aimed to support the implementation of the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems initiatives in seven countries of the Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and implemented by five Caribbean regional entities. It aimed to empower fisherfolk throughout the fisheries value chains to engage in resource management, decision-making processes and sustainable livelihoods, with strengthened institutional support at all levels. The findings and conclusions of the terminal evaluations highlight the effectiveness of the project's capacity building activities, the platform for inter-agency collaboration, and the strengthening of legal and policy frameworks. Given the short time frame of the projects, as well as the interruptions due to the COVID-19, a number of recommendations are made in order to sustain the results achieved thus far, but which still require investment.