EDFish

Belize Inaugurates New Managed Access Program to Prevent and End Overfishing

By Larry Epstein / Bio / Published: July 7, 2011

On July 1, the Government of Belize inaugurated a managed access program for its marine reserves in order to prevent and end overfishing of important commercial species that are key to Belize’s marine environment and coastal economy. This Managed Access system is a major win for the conservation of Belize’s magnificent barrier reef as well as for the livelihoods of fishermen and Belize’s food security.

Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Hon. Rene Montero, inaugurated Belize’s managed access program to an audience of 60 fishermen, conservation NGOs, and government agencies.

Managed Access is a major shift in the paradigm from open access fisheries to a limited access area-based system. EDF has worked with a network of Belizean partners for over three years to achieve this milestone. Belize’s Fisheries Administrator, Beverly Wade, summed up perfectly the significance of this new program, “[The Managed Access program] is not only to allow traditional fishers to have greater participation in the management of the resources, but to also allow them to derive greater benefits from those resources.” Read More »

Posted in Belize / Tagged Belize, Fisheries Management | Comments are closed

Cabinet of Belize Approves Catch Shares in Belize’s Network of Marine Protected Areas

By EDF Oceans / Published: December 13, 2010

Catch shares team in Belize from Environmental Defense Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Belize Fisheries Department.

“Fish Forever” – the motto of Belize’s fishermen. Last week the Government of Belize in partnership with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) took a major step towards fulfilling that vision with a vote by Belize’s cabinet to authorize the implementation of catch shares in its network of marine protected areas.

“Belize’s decision will protect the country’s magnificent Mesoamerican Reef and promote the vitality of its fishing industry,” said Larry Epstein, Mesoamerican Reef Program Manager for EDF, “This substantially adds to the growing list of successful conservation measures Belize is using to preserve its oceans for future generations.”

As a first step, the Belize Fisheries Department will implement their design for TURFs and catch limits for spiny lobster in 2011 and 2012 in Glover’s Reef and Port Honduras Marine Reserves. Belize has already taken the first steps for allocating access to TURFs, creating a monitoring regime, and creating committees of fishermen to participate in the implementation and management of catch shares.

“Catch shares will assist in enforcing marine laws and ensure that fishermen are part and parcel of the enforcement, and respected as custodians because it will be part of their livelihoods that they will be protecting.”
– Hon. Rene Montero, Belize Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperatives

In 2009 EDF created a partnership between the Government of Belize Fisheries Department, Wildlife Conservation Society, and the leading Belizean conservation NGO – the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE). Our coalition achieved this milestone in Belize through an education campaign that engaged fishermen, policy makers, elected officials, and government managers of marine reserves. EDF’s team of economists, scientists, and catch shares experts built Belize’s technical capacity for catch shares and helped develop the catch share design – including Rod Fujita, Kate Bonzon, Laura Rodriguez, Jake Kritzer, Doug Rader, Tom Lalley, and Tesia Love. The Government of Belize has stated a vision for catch shares in all marine reserves, and for the commercial lobster fishery.

Monkey River Fishing Boats in Belize

Fishermen in Belize understand first-hand and have been advocating catch shares since EDF, WCS, and TIDE began working in their communities. According to one fisherman from Placencia, a fishing community in southern Belize, “Every year for the past ten years we have had a decline in lobster production. That is due to, I think, to overfishing and a general decline in product itself.” Now Belize and its fishermen have a tool at their disposal that protects its oceans, while at the same time supporting the livelihoods and food security for the people that depend on its resources.

Posted in Belize / Tagged Belize, Catch Shares, Fishery Management, Latin America, Marine Protected Areas, MPAs | Comments are closed

Innovative Fisheries Management Tools Can Help Further Protect Glover’s Reef and Other Areas in Belize

By Larry Epstein / Bio / Published: April 29, 2010

Conch diver in Belize.

Erik Olsen presents a balanced perspective on management and conditions a Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve in Belize in “Protected Reef Offers Model for Conservation” (New York Times, Science, April 27, 2010) and “On Patrol with the Reef Ranger” (New York Times, Green Blog, April 27, 2010). The Government of Belize has worked well with NGOs and fishermen to establish and maintain this reserve, no easy task when resources are limited. The abundant sea life and recovering sharks and rays are evidence of excellent performance at this site.

But, Glover’s Reef and other areas in Belize are under increasing pressure from overfishing. Indicators of this include an unsustainable increase in the number of fishermen, the decline in catch of targeted high-value species such as lobster and grouper, and an increase in the catching of parrotfish – a species critical for maintaining the health of the reef. The question for managers, conservationists, and fishermen is how to integrate sustainable fisheries management with the marine reserve to prevent and even reverse overfishing in the reserves.

Community meeting of fishermen in Belize.

In response to the threat of overfishing, Environmental Defense Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, Belize Fisheries Department and Belizean fishermen communities have partnered on an initiative to protect and restore fisheries at Glover’s Reef and elsewhere in Belize through the implementation of innovative, incentive-based tools for fisheries management.

One of the major causes of overfishing at Glover’s Reef is that it is an open access fishery. While this creates an opportunity for all to catch fish, it is also encouraging fishermen to catch too much fish too quickly. As fish populations get depleted, the health of the reef suffers and fishermen livelihoods become vulnerable. To solve this problem fishermen must either agree to end the competition and cooperate to sustainably harvest fish (cooperative fishing); or incentives can be put into place to encourage such behavior by empowering fishermen with secure shares of the catch or access to fishing grounds (catch share management).

This initiative builds on the science and management work already underway at Glover’s Reef – the catch data collection that is critical to the implementation of a catch share program, and monitoring the overall ecosystem health of the atoll. Cooperative fishing and catch shares will also enable local community groups to play a more central role in the management of their fisheries, including implementing the enforcement and monitoring necessary for sustainable management.

Glover’s Reef is a jewel, and a critical space for the livelihoods of fishermen and health of Belize’s Barrier Reef and the Mesoamerican marine ecosystem. Linking good fisheries management with MPAs is a critical step to ensure that current and future generations enjoy and benefit from its resources.

Posted in Belize / Tagged Belize, Fishing, Glover's Reef Marine Reserve, Marine Protected Areas, Marine Protection, MPA | Comments are closed

Belizean Fishermen and Fishery Managers Visit British Columbia to See Catch Shares at Work

By / Published: May 8, 2009

Fishermen exchange delegation viewing catch reports in Vancouver, BC. Several times a year, EDF takes a delegation of fishermen, policy makers and other leaders in the ocean conservation community and fisheries industry to British Columbia to see, first hand, an effective catch shares program at work. Last week, Larry Epstein, Ayelet Hines, Michael Clayton, and Nicanor Requena of the EDF Oceans program hosted a delegation of fisheries stakeholders from Belize on an international exchange to visit the B.C. groundfish fishery.

The delegation included Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Cooperatives Rene Montero; Minister of Human Development and Social Transformation Peter Eden Martinez; Fisheries Administrator Beverly Wade; and Coastal Zone Management Authority Chief Executive Officer Vincent Gillett. Fishermen leaders of cooperatives and associations, and representatives of Belizean conservation NGOs also participated in the exchange.

Fishermen (from Belize) exchange viewing catch shares management in Vancouver, BC. Some of the fisheries managed by catch shares in the B.C. groundfish fishery have increased in value ten-fold as a result of healthier and improved fish stocks and habitat. During the conversations among B.C. and Belizean government managers, fishermen, and conservationists, the delegation learned how the B.C. catch share evolved and discussed lessons learned. In addition, the delegation visited the catch shares monitoring facility and observed the process of assessing and recording the catch at a dockside offload site.

Sparking significant enthusiasm for catch shares, the exchange furthered conversations around a range of opportunities for EDF and its partners to engage the Belizean government and fishermen in the implementation of the Mesoamerican Reef Sustainable Fisheries Initiative in Belize. The initiative seeks to implement the use of catch shares in Belize as part of a larger ecosystem-based fishery management strategy.

Posted in Belize / Tagged Belize, British Columbia, Catch Shares, Fishery Management, Groundfish, Vancourver | Comments are closed