Last night, we told you about the upgraded offer that the conservation community has presented to the Government to institute a full ban on the use of gillnets in Belize.
Oceana is offering 1 million dollars to fund the transition from gillnets to a more sustainable form of fishing. The Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries, an organization created in August 2018, has also presented the Government with an offer of an additional 1.5 million dollars to fund the transition away from this destructive fishing gear.
The coalition is made up of organizations such as Belize Tourism Industry Association, Belize Game Fish Association, National Sports Fishing Association, Belize Federation of Fishers, Turneffe Atoll Trust, Yellowdog Conservation and Community Foundation, and MAR Alliance. They are as determined as Oceana to see traditional fisherfolks transition away from gillnets to more environmentally friendly fishing gears.
In a press release yesterday, the Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development, and the Environment announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Coalition.
The Ministry's press release says, quote, "This MoU reiterates the conditions and timelines for a successful phase-out and livelihoods transition, that would conclude in a ban to be instituted throughout Belize's maritime waters by March 31, 2022, at the latest or earlier when the livelihoods transition of fishers is successfully attained." End quote.
It's a welcomed change from the conservation community, and Oceana Belize is hoping that the Government will accept their offer as well. Vice President Janelle Chanona granted us an interview today to make the point that if the Government agrees, the local fishermen and women could get access those entire 2.5 million dollars to put down their gillnets altogether:
Janelle Chanona - VP, Oceana Belize
"This entire effort started with the fishers, and it will conclude with the fishers. The fishers have been asking for a gillnet ban for more than 2 decades. The government said in December, 'We're ready to declare gillnets destructive, but the resources on the table are not adequate. So, since then, we've gone away. The offer on the table is now 2.5 million dollars, 1 million dollars of which Oceana has raised."
"So, it would be 1 million from Oceana and the 1.5 million from the collection of NGOs that are also partnering to support this effort."
"We have a draft agreement for our million raised before the Government. It's now with the Prime Minister himself. So, we're now awaiting a response on that because that million that we have raised would go directly to the fishers to compliment the replacement activities for the alternative livelihoods program that other partners are doing."
"It really comes down to the fact that all of us, government and NGOs, identify that there was a need to support Belizean licensed fishers doing this activity so that they can transition. This is not normal for advocacy groups like ours, but we wanted to make sure that those fishers that would be impacted by this policy change, could continue to meet their needs with dignity, and supply everything that they needed to their families."
"How we've designed it is that the fishers would be directly compensated through the Belize Credit Union League. They would get a monthly payment directly to them, and that would complement the other support that they would be getting through - I believe it is being called an alternative livelihood program or a replacement of the income that they would have derived from gillnetting."
We understand, however, that the Government may not be willing to sign an agreement with the OCEANA because their million dollars comes with a few conditions. Among them is a liability clause where the Government agrees to pay back that 1 million dollars back to Oceana if any future administration decides to lift the gillnet ban.
The prospect of taking on more debt on behalf of taxpayers is not something that the Government officials are willing to consider at this time. We asked the Oceana's VP about that concern, and she told us that this money won't become a public burden if the Government and people of Belize remain determined to retire gillnets. Here's how she explained why:
Janelle Chanona - VP, Oceana Belize
"For our part, the conditions that we've attached to the million that we have raised, are exact replicas of what we got agreed to with the Government on the trawling ban. And we've seen how those terms have successfully deterred ongoing efforts to lift trawling, but also where it promotes the principles of transparency and accountability because the clauses ask for things like written notice. If any government in the future wants to lift it, they have to provide written notice. We don't usually get that when there is an intended change for a law. It also seeks to honor a significant investment. 2.5 million dollars is a lot of money. To say that there has been an investment in this process, we've determined we want to go against that, but you know what, because you've invested so much, and now we're changing our minds, there has to be repercussion to that decision. There has to be accountability to the Belizean people."
Reporter
"You guys are asking that that particular amount be added to the debt that Belizeans would have to pay."
Janelle Chanona
"It is only a liability if any administration that wants to lift the ban can't justify how lifting the ban would actually provide an economic benefit."
"It is about the fact that the conservation community is making an investment in the fisher to transition. If in a couple of months, I'm sure you would be among those telling me, 'Janelle, don't you feel strange that you gave these people a million dollars, and look, the law has changed. You've lost everything. You're now a joke. That is not the point of this. It is about investing in the process, investing in the fisher, and if - as is their right - they change their minds down the road, it is about the opportunity for the investors on this to reinvest in something else."
"It is not about being a liability to taxpayers."
We'll keep following the story.
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