There are many conservation-minded Belizeans who believe that the Government should ban the gill nets in Belizean waters. They say that many animals that aren't the target of the gill net fishermen get caught up in the net and die unnecessarily.

Then, there are some gill net fishermen who say that this is a traditional fishing method that shouldn't be taken away from them because that is the only way they feed their families. One such group staged a protest in Belmopan last Friday, and as our colleagues from Plus TV News saw, they had some posters with eye-catching captions.

But, Wil Maheia and the Belize Territorial Volunteers weren't so impressed; they believe that all the protesters were part of a group of Guatemalan fisher folks who use gill nets in southern Belize. In a press release today, the BTV alleged that these "Guatemalans" arrived in Belize at the Punta Gorda Fish Market early last Friday morning, and they evaded customs and immigration. They then allegedly boarded a chartered bus to Belmopan, where, according to the BTV, they, quote, "Attempted to stage an illegal protest in our capital city." End quote.

The BTV press release says, quote, "After leaving Belmopan, the protesters returned to Punta Gorda by bus and boarded their boats that were waiting at the local fishing cooperative to take them back to Guatemala around 3:00 p.m. This is where the BTV intercepted their boats and videotaped them so that Belizeans can be informed of their wrongdoings. A video was made when the chase was taking place." End quote.