The Department of Environment and the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) would like to invite you to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 69th Annual GCFI Conference on Monday November 7th from 8:00-10:00am in the Governor's Ballroom at the Westin Hotel.

We invite you to attend the Opening Ceremony as a guest of the DoE. The ceremony will include addresses by the Hon. Wayne Panton (Minister of Financial Services, Commerce and Environment), Gina Ebanks-Petrie (Director of the Department of Environment), and Nancy Brown-Peterson (Chair, GCFI Board of Directors). Dr. Brice Semmens will give the keynote address: "Fish Spawning Aggregation Monitoring and Management in the Modern Era: Insights from the Cayman Islands."

GCFI is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1947 to promote the exchange of current information on the use and management of marine resources in the Gulf and Caribbean region. From its beginning, GCFI has endeavored to involve scientific, governmental, and commercial sectors to provide a broad perspective on relevant issues, and to encourage dialogue among groups that often operate in relative isolation from one another.  

The 69th Annual GCFI Conference will be hosted in Grand Cayman from 7-11 November 2016 (http://www.gcfi.org/Conferences/69th/GrandCayman_en.html).  It will focus on applying fishers' knowledge and marine science to solve problems by bringing multiple users of ocean resources together to make informed and coordinated decisions about how to sustainably use these resources.

To view the conference program please see http://www.gcfi.org/Conferences/69th/ProgramEng.pdf. If you are interested in full registration (for a single day or for the five day period) please contact DoE for information about a special rate which will be offered by the conference organizers.

Thank you for your support of marine conservation in the Cayman Islands. We hope to see you at the opening ceremony, but if you could let us know before Saturday (5th) if you're able to attend it would be appreciated.

Bradley Johnson
Research Officer
Department of Environment
PO Box 10202, Grand Cayman KY1-1002
Cayman Islands Environmental Centre, 580 North Sound Road.
Tel (345) 949-8469 | Direct (345) 743-5968 | Fax (345) 949-4020 | www.doe.ky

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