he Voice oftheFishermenSouthernBelize he Voice The Voice of the Fishermen of Southern Belize A Publication by TIDE & TRIGOH Edited by Will Heyman y Rachel Graham TIDE &TRIGOH The Voice of the Fishermen of Southern Belize A publication of the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment and The Trinational Alliance for the Conservation of the Gulf of Honduras Edited by Will Heyman and Rachel Graham PROGRAMA AMBIENTAL REGIONAL PARA CENTRO AMERICA The Voice of the Fishermen of Southern Belize 3 Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) is a non-government orga- nization (NGO) committed to promoting integrated conservation and development in South- ern Belize. TIDE recognizes that local communities are dependent on natural resources so that conservation and wise utilization of natural resources will sustain both cultures and the environment. TIDE is also one of nine members of the Tri-National Alliance of NGOs for the Conservation of the Gulf of Honduras (TRIGOH), and shares a goal of regional fisheries management. TIDE Wil Maheia Director, TIDE PO Box 150 Punta Gorda, Belize, Central America Tel : +501 7 22274 Fax : +501 7 22274 Email : [email protected] Web: http://www.belizeecotours.org Document date : September 2000 4 The Voice of the Fishermen of Southern Belize Contents Foreword ..................................................................................................iv Executive Summary ..........................................................................................v Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... vii Acronyms ................................................................................................ viii Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Summary of Data ............................................................................................. 3 Socio-economic information ....................................................................... 3 Distribution of fishermen in Southern Belize ........................................ 3 Fishermen age and years spent fishing ............................................... 4 Boat types ............................................................................................ 4 Fishing gears........................................................................................ 5 Geography and seasonality of fishing .................................................. 6 Time spent fishing versus other occupations ....................................... 8 Costs and marketing of fisheries catch ................................................ 9 Economic alternatives .......................................................................... 9 Legal context .............................................................................................11 Knowledge of existing laws and regulations........................................11 Proposed laws and regulations ...........................................................11 Artisanal fisheries landings....................................................................... 13 Estimated landings ............................................................................. 13 Value of the fishery............................................................................. 14 Monthly distribution of landings by species .............................................. 15 Snappers ............................................................................................ 15 Lobster ............................................................................................... 17 Conch ................................................................................................ 18 Turtles ................................................................................................ 19 Jack and mackerel ............................................................................. 19 Sportfish ............................................................................................. 20 Fishermen perceptions of the resource.................................................... 21 Population decrease of marine organisms ......................................... 22 Size decrease..................................................................................... 22 Reasons for change ........................................................................... 22 Suggestions for improving fisheries management ............................. 23 Conclusions and Recommendations.............................................................. 25 Tri-national conclusions and recommendations ................................. 26 The Voice of the Fishermen of Southern Belize 5i Selected Bibliography .................................................................................... 28 Useful Contacts.............................................................................................. 30 Appendix 1. Value-Added Fisheries Products & Economic Alternatives for Fishermen ......................................................................... 34 Appendix 2. Materials and Methods ........................................................... 36 Appendix 3. Guidelines for Surveying Fishermen ...................................... 38 Appendix 4. Members of the TRIGOH Technical Group............................. 39 Appendix 5. Dockside Value of Fishes in the GOH (1998)......................... 40 Appendix 6. Multilingual Guide to Fishes in the GOH ................................ 41 ii6 The Voice of the Fishermen of Southern Belize Tables, Figures and Boxes Tables Table 1. Distribution of fishers in communities in Southern Belize........... 3 Table 2. Number of fishermen interested in different economic alternatives and associated training ......................................... 10 Figures Figure 1. The Gulf of Honduras ................................................................. 1 Figure 2. Fishermen ages.......................................................................... 4 Figure 3. Number of years fishing.............................................................. 4 Figure 4. Percentage of fishing gears used by Southern Belizean fishermen.................................................................................... 5 Figure 5. Fishing areas for conch and lobster including spawning and ....... nursery areas.............................................................................. 6 Figure 6. Finfishing areas in Southern Belize ............................................ 7 Figure 7. Sportsfishing areas in Southern Belize....................................... 8 Figure 8. Occupations other than fishing ................................................... 9 Figure 9. Knowledge of and support for Belize’s fisheries laws based on questions asked about laws...................................... 11 Figure 10. Total landings in pounds caught in Southern Belize ................. 13 Figure 11. Value of landings per species in ($BZ) ..................................... 14 Figure 12. Snapper landings in pounds per month.................................... 15 Figure 13. Lobster landings in pounds per month ..................................... 17 Figure 14. Conch landings in pounds per month ....................................... 18 Figure 15. Turtle landings in pounds per month ........................................ 19 Figure 16. Landings of jacks and mackerels in pounds per month............ 19 Figure 17. Sportsfish landings in pounds per month ................................. 20 Figure 18. Percent of fisher responses assessing the state of the fisheries resource based on size ........................................ 21 Figure 19. Percent of fisher responses assessing the state of the fisheries resource based on number .................................. 21 Figure 20. Number of fishers seeing a decline in fish populations by species................................................................................. 21 Figure 21. Number of fishers assessing each species as being smaller ... 22 Figure 22. Reasons given by the fishers for the decline of fish stocks in the GOH................................................................................ 23 Figure 23. Fishermen’s suggestions on how to improve fisheries management and increase fish stocks in the GOH .................. 23 Boxes Box 1. The ecosystem function of the Gulf of Honduras ....................... 2 Box 2. Belize’s endangered manatees ................................................ 10 Box 3. Summary of current regulations governing the marine environment in Belize ............................................................... 12 Box 4. Life cycle of a reef fish.............................................................. 16 Box 5. The queen conch...................................................................... 18 The Voice of the Fishermen of Southern Belize iii7 Foreword Fisheries resources are in a state of decline throughout the world’s seas. Overexploitation, destruction of habitats essential for the maintenance of healthy fish stocks and upland sources of pollution are some of the main factors associated with this decline. In many countries it is the small-scale or artisanal fisheries and the dependant communities and families that are the first to feel the impact of such losses. Artisanal fisheries often