Caye Caulker Village has fishing in its roots, and that’s why island fishermen are up in arms over dredging in their back yard, or more appropriately their bread basket. Charter House Limited is developing 7 acres of land near Caye Caulker and they are dredging sand from the sea to fill it. The work started a week ago and fishermen from the village say it could destroy the lobster crop before they get a chance to harvest it. 7NEWS went to Caye Caulker to investigate and Keith Swift has the details.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This is where the developer is dredging. It is one mile west of Caye Caulker and for a week this dredge, capable of trenching 450 feet deep and 350 feet wide, has been anchored here - digging up sand from the sea floor – and pumping it through this hose to fill this 7 acre plot of land.
Caye Caulker Village Chairman Ralph Humes says this is being done without his permission. In fact Humes says they didn’t even know the area would be dredged.
Ralph Humes, Caye Caulker Village Council Chairman
“They have never sent a letter requesting recommendation from the village council. No permission at all to do this.”
And there is a lot of concern onshore about what’s happening here offshore because for the most part Caye Caulker is still a fishing village. Lobster is its cash crop and the season opens in less than a month. And that’s why fishermen say that dredging at this time could be disastrous.
And they say it could be disastrous because if you look closely – the sea has two colors. The dark area is an indication that the silt that the dredge is stirring up – is now floating south into the areas used by fishermen –which will mean one thing for Gabriel Pariente.
Gabriel Pariente, Fisherman
“It will affect me a lot because I already have a lot of traps set
down already and they have lobsters already and definitely with the muddy water the lobsters will come out and find somewhere else. And even in the clear out here, you won’t find lobsters coming in here again because there is no grass to feed on because the grass it used to feed on has been digged out and this is an area that used to harbour the small crayfish. They would stay here and feed until they get big.”
Keith Swift,
What do you fear will happen?
Gabriel Pariente,
“It will reduce the production of the lobster, just like what happened to Caye Chapel. Caye Chapel had a lot of fish and the same thing happened to them, they are not catching the lobster again like before.”
Robert Blease, Vice-Chairman- Caye Caulker Village Council
“When they are dredging, they dredge all the sea grass and once you move off the sea grass bed you have mud in the bottom and the mud affect the lobster and chase out the lobster. As you can see right now the whole place is muddy. This is the immediate area where they would set their traps. The season will open the 15th of June. Why did they have to wait to come and dredge when the lobster season will open. Muddy water will affect the whole lobster season out here.”
When 7NEWS visited the scene this morning with officials from the Fisheries Department, the Caye Caulker Village Council, and fisher folk from the island, the dredge wasn’t on - but the dredge’s owner Al Chanona was there.
Keith Swift,
Fishermen are concerned because in two weeks or so they are supposed to lay their traps and they are saying they cannot do it because lobsters need clean water.
Al Chanona, Owns Dredge
“These are the fishermen here I suppose…so you all get a chance to live and I get a chance to die. So I die during the lobster season, right?”
A cooler Al Chanona later told us he has a permit from the Geology Department - authorizing him to dredge the area. And apart from that – Chanona says he’s just doing a job.
Al Chanona,
“The permit allows us to dig about 450 feet long, 350 feet wide, 3 feet deep and that’s exactly what
we’re doing. We’ve been doing this for about 27 years in this country and experience has shown that everywhere we’ve dredged have improved the fishing. It is kind of hard to comment on somebody’s uninformed opinion as to what’s good and what’s bad.”
Keith Swift,
Who is the land for?
Al Chanona,
“We’re working for a property owned by Charter House Limited, 2 Belizeans residing in England and they are in the process of preparing a development out here.”
Keith Swift,
Are you willing to put it on pause?
Al Chanona,
“Absolutely, nobody, especially us, we are here working to expose the environment that Belize has to offer which also includes the fishing. Nobody will deliberately do anything to the environment to hambug the environment because then we’ll ruin everything we stand for.”
But Chanona might not have a choice but to stop. Mauro Gongora from the Captured Fisheries Unit at the Ministry of Fisheries met with Chanona this morning. He says Chanona’s operation will negatively affect Caye Caulker’s lobster crop.
Mauro Gongora, Fisheries Department
“As far as I could see there was no curtain in place, the sediments are drifting southwards and it appears to me that this operation has been going on for a couple days. It is clearly going to affect the fishing areas of the local fishermen. At this point in time I could not say how detrimental it could be but certainly lobster production could decline further in this area.”
And while they do have a permit, Area Representative Manuel Heredia Jr. says the circumstances under how they got the permit, and even the land is what’s interesting.
Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Area Representative
“I know that usually the procedure is that they would consult with the local authorities and then after consulting if they agree they would grant the permit. But as I know it, after speaking with the Chairman, he says he is not aware of any permits that were granted. But indeed these people have a permit and I am hoping that we straighten it out with the Department of Geology to make sure that it goes the proper way.
They are reclaiming lowlands over there, land that was sold before the election, during that selling out of our Belizean assets.
I am very concerned because of the fishermen that set traps out there. I understand they didn’t have a curtain where they are dredging so hopefully I hope that the proper authorities will look into it.”
Village Chairman Ralph Humes say they aren’t against development – in fact they are for it but want proper consultation.
Ralph Humes,
“We as the council know that the village council should be a big input in whatever decisions are being made on our island. Mostly they would ask for a recommendation from the village council, we would see if that is what we want for our island. That has not been happening for I don’t know how many years now and yet still when we go around our island we see different activities taking place without having the blessing of the village council.”
But that’s the past – for now these fishermen will just have to keep their fingers cross and still plant their traps – hoping the season hasn’t ended before it even begins.
The dredging again is being done for “Charter House Limited.” Chanona says he only has two days more of work to do. The permit was granted to Charter House Limited on January 8th of this year. Mauro Gongora from the Fisheries Department will forward his recommendations to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Department of Environment. The lobster season opens on June 15th but the traps will be set beginning on the first of June. The season closes on February 15th. Last year Belize exported 210 tons of lobster for which we earned $15.9 million.
