Photo: Jason Houston
BELIZE
Why Belize?
280 km
$10.7 million
Nearly 100%
$395–$559 million
of barrier reef — the longest
in the Western Hemisphere
of fishers are nearshore fishers,
using pangas, small motorcrafts
or sailboats
in revenue earned from 590,000 kg of
wild lobster, conch and other seafood
exported each year
15,000
Belizeans depend on fishing for
their livelihoods
estimated value of Belize’s reef resources,
including fisheries, tourism and shoreline
protection
The Opportunity
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Belize’s fisheries are in severe decline due to open access and overfishing.
Many Belizean fishers say they now work an eight-month season to catch the same amount of lobster once caught in a week.
The Belize government has publicly committed to enact management in its entire marine protected area network by 2015.
Marine protected areas constitute nearly 40 percent of Belize’s nearshore waters, which ranks it among the world’s best coverage.
All Fish Forever countries have high marine biodiversity, important coral reefs and a strong community
dependence on fisheries. The challenges and different fishery models specific to each will enable neighboring
countries to more easily replicate Fish Forever successes.
Record of Success in Belize
• Since 2008, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has helped build and
Mexico
launch two managed-access programs.
• EDF and partners have talked with 800 fishers about the principles of
managed exclusive access.
Guatemala
• Seventy percent of Belizean fishers in the program report catching
more fish; and 80 percent report increased compliance with, and
enforcement of, fishing regulations.
Belize
Glover’s
Reef
• More than 200 fishers are now licensed through the new management
program.
• A national public education campaign — featuring radio ads,
interviews, murals and high-profile national celebrations — is raising
awareness of managed access.
Port Honduras
• The University of California, Santa Barbara, led a meeting with Belize’s
Fisheries Department, EDF and Rare to begin developing an adaptive
management framework for sustainable fish recovery.
[This program] will help fish rebound without
marginalizing those who have fished for generations.”
- Beverly Wade, Belize Fisheries administrator
The Future
Building on these successes, Fish Forever will achieve the
following in the first five years:
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marine reserve network as well as its most important commercial
fisheries. Such a nationwide program would be a first for a
developing country.
Train Belize Fisheries Department staff to implement this nationwide
managed-access system.
Give fishers the ability to determine who is eligible to fish through a system
of locally managed committees.
Support the Belize Fisheries Department in a national marketing campaign to
establish a branded managed access system across Belize.
Fish Forever seeks funding partners who share a vision and commitment to
recover important coastal habitat at scale. Together, we will catalyze a global
movement of nearshore fisheries reform in the developing tropics.
www.fishforever.org
February 2014
Photo: Jason Houston
• Expand the managed-access program to include Belize’s entire