Last night, we told you how enforcement officers of the Belize Fisheries Department were participating in a 2-day training to build their capacity to detect and prosecute persons who are illegally fishing for sharks.
That initiative is part of a bigger strategy by the Ministry of the Blue Economy to step up conservation efforts for the protection of the shark population that can still be found in Belize's territorial sea spaces. This evening, the Ministry held a special ceremony to mark the approval of a Statutory Instrument from the Cabinet that establishes a protected area of around 1,500 square miles for sharks. As a result, shark fishing is now prohibited within a two-nautical-mile radius around the Lighthouse Reef, Glover's Reef, and Turneffe atolls.
7News attended today's ceremony, and here's what the Minister had to say about what is being referred to as the establishment of the Cockscomb Protected Area of the sea:
As part of the conservation effort, the Ministry of the Blue Economy is working with Dr. Demian Chapman, a representative of Florida's Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, and local fishermen for a shark tagging initiative. These devices will enable local shark experts to track the migration patterns of the shark species that can be found in Belize's territorial seas.
A team of professionals has already fitted 5 sharks in Belize with these satellite tracking devices. They are now monitoring the sharks' movements to find out if they enter the territorial waters of neighbouring countries. The plan is to work with those governments to protect the population of sharks within Central America.
Here's what Dr. Chapman had to say about the sharks that have already been tagged:
DYS Rebounds from COVID Last week, we told you that DYS offices countrywide were closed because a staff member was diagnosed with COVID. In order to avoid a cluster, they immediately sent the 30+ people who were in contact with him into a one-week quarantine and sanitized the building.
Today, the offices across the country have reopened to the public after the other staff members all tested negative. Each district office has also been sanitized.
Gilges On Pfizer Donation Earlier in the News, we showed you the Ultra Cold Freezer donated by the U.S. Embassy to the Western Regional Hospital. It's Belize's means to an end in the proposed storage of the Pfizer vaccines that could get us to that all-important 70% mark of herd immunity for the population. Still, there are currently no Pfizer vaccines in the country, and none immediately on the way.
And this afternoon after the handing over ceremony we asked the Charge d' Affairs how come we got the fridge without the food.
Is Vaccine Campaign A Failure? And what about Astrazeneca and Sinopharm vaccine efforts?
Belize currently stands at a meager 21% vaccinated, a stat that our News director, Jules Vasquez, today interpreted as an abject failure.
He put that question to Minister of Health, Michel Chebat - here's his sharp reply:
The Ministry says it will have a major press conference next week top launch its new vaccine campaign.
