Smart Seas Toolkit (SST) for Disaster Resilience

This project sets out to preserve the lives of highly vulnerable small-scale fishermen in the Caribbean through improved emergency communications at sea. It analyses gaps in, and produces a toolkit to guide the strengthening of, national provisions under UN Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and Search and Rescue (SAR) Conventions (2004 , 1979 ); and international Radio Regulations (RRs 2020 ). It does so in the particular context of FAO /ILO /IMO  safety recommendations (2012 ) applicable to small-scale fishermen. The project operates within regional frameworks for harmonization as well as international frameworks for emergency communications. Its outputs will benefit all Caribbean Member States of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) but in the first instance it is instantiated in Trinidad and Tobago, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) for four Caribbean countries, in anticipation of the establishment of that country’s inaugural national maritime authority. The project will also facilitate a global partnership to report on technological, service and market innovations to address the perennial problem of accessible emergency communications for small-scale fishermen. It sets the stage for subsequent phases which will provide direct assistance to other Caribbean countries, introduce a certification scheme for maritime band very high frequency (VHF) operation and build related digital literacy skills of small-scale fishermen. A subsequent phase will also extend communications beyond voice to the use of innovative communication technologies to fill gaps in marine data necessary for resilience building through all stages of the disaster risk management cycle: mitigation, preparation, response and recovery.