They ply one of the oldest professions in human history but now five fishermen busted with undersized conch will have to pay one of the largest fines we've ever reported!
The fishermen who are from Sartenja village in Corozal were arrested yesterday evening as they attempted to board a bus at Novelo's Bus terminal in Belize City. Each fisherman pleaded guilty to possession and was fined $20 for each conch found on them: that's a total of 2,816 conch and multiply that times 20 and you'll get the total, a whopping $57,000 in fines.
The fine will be divided among 21 year old Randolph Aragon who was found with 712 conch equaling $14,240 plus an additional $250 for court cost. 23 year old Angel Aragon and 25 year old Roseno Durantes were found with 520 conch so that equals 11,200 dollars and added is the additional charge of possession of 17 lobster in the closed season which carried an extra $340 fine. Then there was 27 year old Turcio Aragon found with 855 undersized conch and his fined equaled $17,100. Finally there was 21 year old Jaime Mejia found with 712 undersized so his fine amounted to $14,240.
All totaled the five fishermen will have to pay the court $57,120 for the undersized conch and $1,250 in court fines amounting to $58,370.
The fisherman have until August 19th to pay the fines.