PROJECT FOR THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF THE MESOAMERICAN BARRIER REEF SYSTEM (MBRS) Belize – Guatemala – Honduras - Mexico SAM / MBRS Training Manual for Tour Guiding in Sport Fishing December 2005 Project Coordinating Unit Coastal Resources Multi-Complex Building Princess Margaret Drive PO Box 93 Belize City, Belize Tel: (501) 223-3895; 223-4561 Fax: (501) 223-4513 E-mail:
[email protected] Web page: http://www.mbrs.org.bz Technical Document No. 21 Training Manual for Tour Guiding in Sport Fishing PROLOGUE The constant degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems creates the urgent need to establish reserves and marine protected areas which allow the conservation of biodiversity as well as improve the living conditions of the human communities which depend directly on them. Conservation actions related to the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPS’s), habitat protection and fishing site closures in the MBRS region have led to socio-economic displacements within human communities that are dependent on exploitation of the resources targeted for conservation. Such circumstances create additional economic constraints on these communities by diminishing the capital resources they have available for investing in sustainable alternative forms of livelihood. It is precisely for this reason that the MBRS Project promotes both the conservation of marine and coastal resources and supports sustainable development in those coastal communities, whose main source of income is the harvesting of marine resources. In the search for a balance between conservation and economic sustainability, the MBRS sub- program for Sustainable Fisheries Management has identified a series of alternatives for economic income to help cushion the vulnerable context in which these coastal communities live.