FISH-ADAPT Stakeholder Meeting Explores Financing and Insurance Solutions for Saint Lucia’s Fisheries Sector
August 19, 2026
Recognizing the need to address existing gaps, the Department of Fisheries, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under the Green Climate Fund-funded FISH-ADAPT Project, hosted a National Stakeholder Meeting on Financing and Insuring Fisheries in Saint Lucia
The meeting brought together key stakeholders to examine the availability and accessibility of financial and insurance products for fishers, aquaculture farmers, fisheries-related small and medium-sized enterprises, and other actors within the fisheries value chain.
The initiative forms part of the FISH-ADAPT Project’s broader efforts to transform climate resilience and sustainability within Saint Lucia’s fisheries communities. With the sector increasingly exposed to climate-related threats, including stronger storms, changing marine conditions and damage to fishing assets and infrastructure, access to appropriate financial services is becoming increasingly important to the long-term sustainability of fishing livelihoods.
Chief Fisheries Officer, Sarita Williams-Peter, highlighted the importance of this initiative in strengthening the resilience and long term sustainability of Saint Lucia’s fisheries sector.
“ This workshop in particular is part of a component of the project that is focused on financing the sector. We have a sectoral adaptation plan for the sector that’s focused, components of it is focused on financing for the sector; helping our fisher folk be more financially resilient in the face of climate change and as such this workshop is focused on
looking at finance and insurance and how can we reduce the barriers to accessing these opportunities for the sector.”
Stakeholders examined some of the challenges experienced within the sector, including difficulties accessing affordable credit, limited financial products tailored specifically to fisheries, and gaps in insurance coverage for fishing vessels, equipment and other fisheries-related investments.
Senior Fishery Officer at the FAO, Dr. Raymon van Anrooy, outlined several practical solutions aimed at helping fishers access financing and insurance services and improving financial inclusion within the fisheries sector.
“We are discussing together with the industry on the fishery side, the demand side and the supply side of the banks and the insurers, how we can bring them closer together. The fishers have to do a better job in record keeping, in becoming bankable, becoming part of the formal sector, so not everything with cash anymore, but also having a trace of their expenditures and their earnings and on the other side the insurers and the financial sector also have to produce products that are attractive and accessible to the fishers.”
The outcomes of the National Stakeholder Meeting are expected to contribute to the development of solutions aimed at removing existing barriers and improving access to appropriate financial and insurance products for Saint Lucia’s fisheries sector.