And while alcohol sales are banned on election day - gillnets are banned for all time. It's a major victory for the conservation community, the Belize Fishermen Cooperative Association today sent out a statement saying that it is a disaster for them.
Tonight, they are asking the government to rescind it.
According to them, a majority of their two thousand members are against the ban, as gillnet fishing is a large part of some of their livelihood. The executive director of BFCA, Sydney Fuller, believes that the association was left out of the conversation prior to the ban.
While Fuller refrained from going into details, he did say that the association has a plan of action to fight against the ban. Oceana has reiterated that they, along with the Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries, have raised two million dollars to help licensed gillnet users transition away from the gear. All 71 licensed fishers will be included in the transition package. They have also noted that the relatively low number of licensed gillnet fishers is an indicator that gillnet fishing is being done illegally and that this type of fishing cannot be effectively regulated.
