As one of its final acts before the general elections, the Barrow Administration has implemented a full ban on gillnet fishing in Belize. And, it continues to be congratulated by the marine conservation NGOs.
Today, the Southern Environmental Association (SEA), sent out a press release which says, quote, "SEA extends congratulations to the Ministry of Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, and Sustainable Development.SEA will continue to support the ban on gill-nets through stakeholder sensitization and strategic enforcement activities and encourages all fisherfolk to ensure strict adherence to the new regulation which now prohibits the use and possession of gill-nets in Belizean waters." End quote.
But, as we showed you last night, there is still some Belizean fisherfolk who are resisting the permanent ban. This evening, Oceana Belize and the Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries held a virtual press conference to address some of those lingering concerns. We'll get to that later, but we focus now on what the transition process will look like for the fishermen who were legally licensed to use gillnets.
Both of these organizations have raised 1 million dollars each to help with that process. In this evening's press conference, we asked them to explain exactly how it works, and how the fishermen will get access to that funding:
Janelle Chanona - VP, Oceana Belize
"There are 2 programs happening simultaneously. The Coalition is running its program, and Oceana is running our program."
"Oceana's funds will be handed over in cash to the fishers who have been declared beneficiaries of the transition efforts. They will receive an initial payment in November and starting in December, there will be monthly disbursements for 23 months, and that is to make sure that they can replace the incomes that they would have derived from gill netting on a consistent basis. They can apply that however, they want, whether it's covering their needs at home, or applying it to different types of fishing."
"There's actually a contract that each fisher signs with Oceana, to say this is what I have been talking to Oceana about this is what I understand. This is what I would receive, and this is what I'm committed to doing. As a part of that contract, they will be handing in their nets to us, as a sign of their commitment to not using the gear."
Andrew Roe - Chair, Coalition of Sustainable Fisheries
"We were very happy to work with Oceana because we feel that the two programs are complementary to one another. Janelle and Oceana are working on financial support, while the Coalition focused on providing economic alternatives for these fishers. The fishers involved here are all those legally licensed gillnet fishermen. So, any fishermen who had a license to gillnet fish in 2018 was included in this list of fishers, and that number came to 83 fishermen. These fishermen, in consultations with them, we realized that in almost every single case, gillnet fishing was only a small portion of the income that they earn. Most of these guys are fishermen who do all sorts of other fishing activities. And so, what the coalition's funding is geared towards is transitioning them to something that provides them an economic alternative. In cases, the money that we're providing them will improve or increase their ability to do the type of fishing that they're doing, during their other time, when they're not gill netting. And in some cases, they're taking up an all-new type of fishing. Most of them did decide that they will remain in the fishing sector. A handful did decide that they wanted to get into agriculture, and so, the program will provide resources and financial resources for them to get into the agricultural business."
Last night, we showed you the comments of Sydney Fuller, the executive director of the Belize Fishermen Cooperative Association, who said that they were unfairly left out of the conversation to discuss this ban and that it is a disaster for them.
We put that to the representatives of Oceana and Coalition:
Today, the representatives of Oceana and the Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries made the point that gillnet fishing is something which illegal fishermen use to pillage Belize's sea spaces, before returning to their home countries near our borders. They insist that with gill nets being banned, these types of persons will be more easily identifiable for the law enforcement authorities.
