The Importance of Gillnet Ban

The discovery was documented and shared with OCEANA Belize who posted the images online. The non-discriminatory fishing gear was made illegal back on November sixth when G.O.B. instituted a ban; it was a major step to strengthening marine conservation by putting an end to gillnet fishing in Belizean waters. OCEANA Belize is one of the many

Alyssa Carnegie

environmental agencies that advocated for the removal of gillnets.   

Alyssa Carnegie, Communications Director, OCEANA Belize

“This is precisely why a ban is really important and it is such an accomplishment for us and our country because local Belizean fishers have been petitioning for the gillnet ban. We hear, we see all the time the illegal fishers coming over, coming to set gillnets in our waters and it is a very difficult gear to regulate and a very difficult gear to enforce especially with the regulations that had existed before in terms of by size and tags. It is very laborious and you can see from the video from Mister Smith in terms of pulling it out. The kind of effort it requires in terms of enabling that the gear meets certain restrictions. So the ban is helpful for just this reason to help with enforcement. We know that the ban applies to all of Belize’s marine territorial seas so any gillnet that is found in there is illegal. So our enforcement officials, other fishers who happen to come up on it already know that the gillnet doesn’t belong there and taking it out of the water is an easy decision to make.”