The use of gillnets for fishing has been banned in Belize since November 5th of last year. But, enforcement agencies are still finding fisherfolk who are using this destructive gear in the country's sea spaces.
Freelance reporter Jose Sanchez recently spoke to TIDE rangers about the latest discovery of gillnets that were found inside the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. With his help, here's what the head ranger had to say on their enforcement efforts:
Edwin Cabrera, Head Ranger, TIDE
"Today we brought in 4 gillnets that was found within the marine reserve. One of the gillnets was actually confiscated from some fishers that were claiming they were using the net for catching bait which is an undersized mesh, so it was confiscated from the fishers. The gillnet that was confiscated from the fishers within the reserve was a gillnet measuring 74 meters long. It's a 2 inch mesh which is illegal, because prior to the changing of the law, the legal mesh size was 3 inches. And also we brought in 3 other gillnets that were handed to us by a community steward. Last week Friday he brought it to the ranger station, he reported
that the gillnets are totally submerged under water, claiming that they are used for extracting lobster from within the reserve. So just to bring awareness that the law has been passed that the gillnets are banned within Belize and the 3 gillnets that were handed over from the community steward; 2 of the gillnets were 147 meters in length and one of them was 126 meters in length."
"As we continue to do our patrols within the reserve, we just want to ensure that the fishers that are using the marine reserve update themselves with the changes of the regulations. Definitely, it requires more awareness when we have the changing of the different regulations, but we are out 24/7 within the reserve, so we go from boat to boat also to encourage fishers to refrain from using the illegal methods and also updating some of the guys with the changes of the regulations."
95 percent of Port Honduras Marine Reserve is a general use zone for commercial activity, while 4 percent is used as a replenishment zone.
