The organizations known as the Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries and Oceana Belize are sounding an alarm tonight over the gillnet ban, which the previous government implemented. They are suggesting that the Ministry of the Blue Economy is taking steps to reverse it.
In a press release sent this evening, the organizations open up by reminding that on November 5th, 2020, a statutory instrument was signed to implement the ban. These two organizations even rolled out their program to compensate the gillnet fishers who were willingly giving up their destructive gear.
And then, they say that they were disappointed to hear reports that the Ministry of the Blue Economy was moving quickly to alter Statutory Instrument 158 of 2020, which implemented the ban.
Their press release says, quote, "We were disappointed to learn this week that the Ministry of Blue Economy is involved in a spurious lawsuit filed by a third party with a pre-determined mediation initiated even prior to the court's approval to proceed. We are concerned that the Ministry appears to be rapidly moved to substantially alter Statutory Instrument 158 of 2020, effectively overturning the gillnet ban.
The Coalition and Oceana are confident that through constructive dialogue, we can jointly determine the best ways to sustainably manage our fisheries management and enforcement.
We have communicated our concerns to Prime Minister Briceno, Minister Perez, and Minister Mahler that a reversal of the gillnet ban will seriously affect the tourism industry, tourism jobs, and eventually the country's economic health." End quote.
