The Belize-based Caribbean Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) has announced the appointment of Peter A. Murray as the new Regional Project Coordinator of the US$48 million project.
It said that the St. Lucian-born Murray, who formerly served as the CRFM’s advisor, Fisheries Management and Development, will oversee the ‘Promoting National Blue Economy Priorities Through Marine Spatial Planning in the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem Plus Region’ (BE-CLME + Project). Murray has played an active technical role for several decades on BE-related matters across the Caribbean, in addition to monitoring control and surveillance, illegal unreported and unregulated fishing and the broader spectrum of trans-national crime, gender, and fisheries nutrition, health and sanitary issues.
CRFM said that he comes highly qualified with 45 years of experience in fisheries as well as a Master of Philosophy degree in Biology and a Diploma in International Environmental Law. He has been the senior-most Fisheries Biologist at St. Lucia’s Department of Fisheries; senior Programme Officer at the OECS Secretariat, and Programme Manager at the CRFM Secretariat.
Murray succeeds Dr. Dayne Buddo and will now have lead responsibility for overseeing BE-CLME+ project activities.
‘As such, he will work towards ensuring alignment with strategic goals, timely delivery of planned activities and fostering collaboration among stakeholders and partners. His extensive experience and knowledge will be very helpful in advancing the objectives of the project, which is focused on marine spatial planning, marine managed areas, seafood value chain development.’
The CRFM said the project will ultimately advance the sustainable use and management of marine living resources, biodiversity conservation, stakeholder engagement and capacity-building throughout the region, and enhancing resilience to climate change and ocean acidification.