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2 weeks ago, we showed you the press conference set up by the “Coalition to Save our Natural Heritage,â€￾ to discuss the harmful effects that gill net fishing has on Belize’s marine environment.

These conservationists have been calling for a ban on gill net fishing in Belize, and they intend to present the findings of their recent study to the gill net task force. The hope is that these policy makers will be convinced by the report that gill net fishing licenses should be retired, and that the practice permanently shelved. 

Well, another group of conservationists has commissioned a study on gill net fishing in Belize, which parts of the country practices it, and what its harmful effects look like. The Turneffe Atoll Trust release their report today called “Net Loss or Net Gain? Gill Net Use in Belizean Watersâ€￾.

They held a press conference to discuss the more important parts of their study, and here are a few excerpts from their 78 minute presentation:

Dr. Valentino Shal - Consultant
"We have 44 miles of gillnets registered, which is registered to those 83 fishers we currently have but in 2017 we had 144 miles of gillnets registered, which is almost the length of the barrier reef. I suspect that the reason for the drop in the length of gillnets is simply because the fisheries department started to fully comply with the number of gillnets that fishers are allowed to have per person. Before that, it appears that you could register almost any length of gillnets that you have available but that has changed and it seems to be that everyone - at least in terms of the registration is in compliance now which is why the quantity of gillnets have dropped significantly. We have also established that we have Belizean fishermen involved in the shark and fin trade with Guatemala and are using illegal gillnets and exporting the harvested sharks and shark fins to Guatemala. While we were doing this study, the ministry changed the rules in terms of permanent residence being able to acquire fishing licenses in Belize and I think that has plugged a huge hole in the exploitation and the illegal exploitation of marine resources, especially in the south of Belize."

Alex Anderson - Executive Director, Turneffe Atoll Trust
"A few takeaways, one understanding the amount of license commercial fishermen there are. In 2018 it's roughly a little bit over 2500. In terms of looking at how many gillnet fishermen there are in Belize and that were registered in 2018, it's roughly 3% of that or 83. So I think those are very striking numbers, very important for us to keep in mind as we move forward. Looking at the economic aspect of it, we're talking about roughly 37% of GDP coming from the tourism industry. Of that, 112 comes from sports fishing, again, these are very striking numbers. Commercial fishing on a whole 30.5 million a year, that is a spread of conch, lobster and also shrimp and I believe fine catch products that's going out as well. Two things I want to bare in mind, one, the gear of choice by illegal fishermen is gillnets. Two, majority of the licensed gillnet in Belize is from Belize City, Dangriga and South."

The report recommends to the policy makers that there should be a phased ban of gill nets.