22 May 2025 – Phase 2 of the CAMAC Project (Conservation of Marine and Coastal Biodiversity in the Caribbean through Strengthened Management and Regional Cooperation) is announced — a major milestone in advancing the protection of marine megafauna across the Wider Caribbean region.
The CAMAC project was initially announced in 2022, with an operational period from 2023 – 2028.
Following a highly impactful first phase, CAMAC Phase 2 will build on a foundation of collaborative science, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement—with marine mammals once again playing a central role. The Marine Mammals Management Toolkit, developed under the EU-funded Ocean Governance Project, supported CAMAC Phase 1 through technical expertise, capacity-building efforts, and contribution to key resources including the marine mammal stranding response resources.
Phase 1 focused on building the regional groundwork necessary for successful, science-driven marine conservation. Key achievements included:
- Establishing a Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, including key fishing stakeholders;
- Conducting an in-depth review of regional fishing activities and interactions with marine megafauna;
- Identifying geographic and thematic priorities for further research and action in Phase 2.
These goals were implemented through four strategic work packages, including an initial overview of fisheries–megafauna interactions, capacity-building workshops on marine mammal stranding response, the development of educational tools (CAMACATA), and the foundation of an action plan for elasmobranch (shark and ray) conservation.
Phase 2 will expand and deepen this work with seven new work packages aimed at improving scientific understanding, regional coordination, and conservation action across the CAMAC area. These WPs align with CAMAC’s four core pillars:
- Strengthening partnerships with the fishing industry to assess and mitigate interactions with marine megafauna (WP1);
- Enhancing stranding response capacity for marine mammals and sea turtles through training, protocols, and shared databases (WP2);
- Promoting marine education and awareness through school exchanges and updated regional teaching tools (WP3);
- Advancing population-level data on marine mammals and seabirds, and supporting stakeholder capacity for long-term monitoring (WP4).
- Two additional WPs focus on elasmobranch monitoring and data-sharing (WP5), and
- communication and strategic outreach to inform regional decision-making (WP6).
CAMAC is a project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the framework of the Interreg Caribbean programme up to 85% for a total budget of 758 397 € in the first year.
The Toolkit will continue to work alongside CAMAC partners—such as SPAW-RAC and the Agoa Sanctuary—to support training efforts, knowledge-sharing, and uptake of PAME (Protected Area Management Effectiveness) approaches in marine mammal management.
The alignment between the Toolkit’s goals and CAMAC’s approach ensures that marine managers across the Caribbean have the resources, data, and networks they need to take informed action in line with the Global Biodiversity Framework and other international commitments.
