2024-11-20 - Channel 5 Belize

TS Sara Related Flooding Affecting Rural Belize Days Later

Tonight, hundreds of residents in Belize River Valley are grappling with floodwaters that have surged in from western Belize. In Rancho Dolores, a community of two hundred and fifty villagers, everyone is hunkering down. The bridge leading into the village and a large stretch of the road are submerged. The river has been swollen for days, but it started rising rapidly overnight. Today, the Coast Guard had to step in to help residents receive basic necessities. During our visit, we saw floodwater creeping dangerously close to several homes, with a few already underwater. How long will the villagers be stuck? It’s anyone’s guess. News Five’s Paul Lopez visited the community today and filed this report.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Most days, you can easily drive to Rancho Dolores Village. But today, the road and the bridge leading to this rural community are completely submerged under water.

Rudolph Reyes, Resident, Rancho Dolores

“I live dah Rancho and ih come like this four, five different times. But, for the past ten years before ih come like this again.”

Paul Lopez

“What we are on right now is the road.”

Rudolph Reyes

“Yes, this is the road. It is right here this morning that the Coast Guard truck stuck. Well ih nuh stuck, ih shet down and they had to get something to haul it. But, if deh haul it back way it stuck. So, they get a tractor and ih the over that side right now.”

Coast Guard personnel were dispatched to help transport residents. Navigating from one side of the bridge to the village is no easy task. The boat captain carefully steers along the flooded road, getting as close to the bridge as possible before crossing the swollen river.

Howard Casasola, Petty Officer, B.C.G.

“The call came to us about sixteen hundred yesterday. We got our crew, got ready and we deployed from our base our three hundred hours this morning. It was a lot of water. It was not the way that we thought, because we were told that it was only small vehicles that cannot pass. But when we got here we realized we do need a vessel. So, we get a vessel to come to this location. We had a schedule that we are running from right now, that is four-thirty in the morning, five thirty and six thirty, then we take a break and come back at four o’clock, five fifteen and six forty.”

These residents gathered by the riverside, eagerly waiting for the Bowen and Bowen truck to deliver cases of soda and beer. When they got the call that the truck was on the other side of the bridge, they quickly deployed a canoe from the village. The entire exchange felt like a throwback to the old days, before there was a bridge in the area.

Jude Joseph, Resident, Rancho Dolores

“Actually this water start come down yesterday between couple hours and now ih the look fuh tek over the bridge and right now we just the wait fuh we lee soft drink and water. I wah tell yo, to be truthful, in 2020 we had the same amount of water for election 2020. And we wait atleast three months before we could walk cross the bridge. So, Christmas we the look pan right deh, that is our Christmas right there coming. No access cross unless you go and come in the boat.”

Christmas is weeks ahead. And it is the least of Martina Belisle’s concern today. Floodwaters have crept into her backyard, threatening to invade her home. The sight brought back memories of November 2020, when floodwaters rose several feet inside her house.

Martina Belisle, Resident, Rancho Dolores

“Every time it comes like this it’s the same headache I have, every time. But I cannot do better, because I have to move everting out of my house and I don’t know where I will lay my head right now. I the watch the water because ih mih deh right back deh, And yesterday is the most it has raised dah last night. I get up twelve oclock and check water and I get up again four o’clock and never gone back gone sleep. Same way I start to pack.”

Chairlady Elsita Gillett says classes were cancelled for the day in the community. The school is now being used as a shelter for residents. At least to one family has sought refuge here.

Elsita Gillett, Chairlady, Rancho Dolores

“Right now we have several homes that the water have not reached inside their home as yet, but the water is very close. We expect it to reach and continue to rise, we expect it to reach inside people’s home just like in 2020. We know every flood is different but we expect the same conditions if not worst. It is normally several feet down from the bridge. So for it to come this height we know it is a lot of water, and it is spreading.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

Lemonal Residents Evacuate Homes Due to TS Sara Related Floods

Downriver from Rancho Dolores, in the quiet village of Lemonal, quite a few residents had to pack up and leave their homes due to rising waters. Most of them are spending the night in shelters, but a handful chose to stay put and brave the swelling river. News Five’s Paul Lopez made his way to the village to get an up-close look at the unfolding flood situation. Here’s his report.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

In Lemonal, floodwaters from Tropical Storm Sara have almost reached the levels seen back in November 2020. Many riverside residents are finding their roads completely underwater, making it impossible to reach their homes. Aerial views reveal several roads submerged. Because of this, a boat had to be sent up the river to ferry villagers to a shelter at the village entrance.

Margarie McFadzean, Resident, Lemonal

“Hmp, mih house almost under water. We get here from about nine thirty.”

Paul Lopez

“And what point did you begin to see the water rise?”

Margarie McFadzean

“Water started to rise, well ih mih the up already, but ih come up more, because yesterday we mih the mark regular and when I check the last mark nine oclock it was about and over. Then this morning ih gone triple. Ih done eena kitchen? Sih deh gone home nuh to long.”

Margarie McFadzean is talking to her husband, who is lying on the cold concrete steps of the shelter, deep in thought about having to leave his chickens and sheep behind. And then there is Harrison Duhaney who is also seeking shelter in the church. He explained that the road leading to his house is approximately six feet underwater.

Harrison Duhaney, Resident, Lemonal

“Weh happen If you have a lee skiff you could take a look, but I don’t know how long this water will stay here. A lot of people get affected on both sides. That side and this side and so we are transferring some people right now to get rescue by the church. From there we have people coming down. WE have the boat running up suh. My spot really bad. I cant get no access nothing. I cant do nothing home there, nothing, everything for me is under water.”

Paul Lopez

“How high is the water on the roadway, can you walk it?”

Harrison Duhaney

“That is about five, six feet I will say. No you cant walk it. Ih nuh suh easy. Yo could if you are use to it. All like me, I could walk it, because I use to it. It is coming up very fast. Like every hour it is at a certain level, like maybe six, seven inches every hour.”

There’s no use trying to reach any of the homes where the roads are flooded. The memories of November 2020 still haunt the residents, leaving them fearful of being trapped if they stay inside. Despite this, Albert Banner and his sister have chosen to remain in their home, even as the floodwaters creep up from the river, nearly reaching their porch. They’ve taken to using a canoe to navigate to and from their elevated wooden house.

Albert Banner, Resident, Lemonal

“Well this water come down like four days ago. But, it is the first time I witnessed it like that, because I lived in the states for a while. I’m staying here right now.”

Paul Lopez

“I gather that usually you could walk out.”

Albert Banner

“Nah, well yeah in the dry season you could walk out.”

Albert Banner

“Well I got to use my canoe to help my sister and thing.”

Paul Lopez

“How concerning is it that the water continues to rise?”

Albert Banner

“Well, I was asking her if it ever come this high before. She says yes, it comes here like five years before and higher. She told me it went into her house like a foot and a half.”

Paul Lopez

“What are your plans, what will you do for the rest of the day?”

Albert Banner

“Well we just monitor it you know, and if I got to move her away I will move her to a higher ground.”

During our visit, residents were informed that aid was on its way for those in the shelter.

Albert Banner

“It is the risk of living on the riverside.”

Margarie McFadzean

“Yes, but it is sweet on the riverside, sweet on the riverside.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

Proprietor of Double Zero is Busted for Drug Trafficking

On Monday afternoon, law enforcement officers swooped down on an establishment on Western Avenue for a joint operation. The business, Double Zero, is owned by forty-seven-year-old Joshua Ashburn. During the raid, twenty-year-old Keenan O’Connor and thirty-year-old Mario Fernandez, both from Belize City, were also present. A thorough search turned up drugs and firearms, including a bucket of cannabis found in a Dodge Ram pickup. They also found three large transparent bags of cannabis and a nine-millimeter Glock pistol. In the bedroom, officers discovered several international passports. Ashburn, O’Connor, and Fernandez were taken to the Raccoon Street Police Station and charged with various offenses.

Earlier this morning, the businessman was brought to court alone but was taken back to the Police Station for further questioning. It wasn’t until two P.M. that the trio was escorted back to the Belize City Magistrate’s Court to face four criminal charges. They appeared before a Senior Magistrate, where Joshua Moses Ashburn attempted to plead guilty to possession of the two separate amounts of weed found at the property but not guilty to possession with intent to supply. His plea for the lesser charge was rejected, and all three men were remanded to the Belize Central Prison until January twentieth, 2025.

Three Jamaicans Remain in Police Custody After Entering Belize

Tonight, two Jamaican nationals who arrived in Belize between October twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth remain in custody. Their attorney has filed for a judicial review of their detention. The two men, thirty-seven-year-old Devon Duran Dean and twenty-four-year-old Khairo Fisher, faced criminal charges this morning after attempting to enter Belize through the Phillip Goldson International Airport in Ladyville. Denied entry, they somehow ended up with criminal charges while detained. Dean and Fisher were arraigned on separate charges in different courtrooms but were both represented by attorney Norman Rodriguez. Dean was charged with aggravated assault for allegedly attacking an immigration officer with a wooden chair while detained at the Global Village Hotel, and for escaping lawful custody. Initially, Dean pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault but guilty to escape. The magistrate indicated a fine between six hundred and one thousand dollars for the escape charge. The aggravated assault charge was later dropped after Rodriguez argued that Dean was charged under a non-existent section of the act. Dean was fined eight hundred dollars for escaping, which he had to pay immediately. Fisher faced a single charge of harm for allegedly injuring a security guard at the Global International Hotel. He pleaded guilty and was fined three hundred dollars. Despite their guilty pleas, their troubles are far from over. Dean, Fisher, and a third Jamaican, John Brown, remain in custody. During our interview with Dean, he was once again detained by police.

Devon Dean, Jamaican National

“They hand me over to the police and when they hand me over to the police they said they are not in charge of me anymore. So, I am with my lawyer. Video them Anita. In the morning I feel threatened, it fell like I was kidnapped. So I looked down and saw the officer sleeping so I said I am no going down the step because I don’t know if thy are trigger happy and will see me going and shoot me. So I jumped through the window and landed on my feet. I kinda feel hungry so I went across the road and process something to eat because the night before I did not get something to eat. So, on the way purchasing it and walking down the road. I saw a white vehicle, people jump out, point gun in my face and tell me don’t move. They carried me back to the hotel. When I am the hotel I told them, they ask me where I was going. I told them I was going to eat something. One of the immigration officer point on me and stepped on my foot and then I say ah you broke my foot. No one wanted to assist me when I told them I feeling pain. I was crying balling, living eye water before someone took me to the hospital. They get a prescription to fill out. Up to now they didn’t give me a prescription. The only officer that gave me something was an officer by the name of Johnson.”

The Honorable Shyne Debuts at #1

“The Honorable Shyne,” a documentary about the life and times of Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow, premiered on Hulu on Monday to rave reviews from viewers both locally and internationally. For several weeks, Barrow was in the United States, making media rounds to promote the new release. The biographical documentary debuted at number one on the streaming platform. This morning, Barrow sat down with reporters to talk about this latest achievement.

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“It’s the number one film show on Hulu worldwide. So I’m extremely grateful for that, you know. Thank you for everyone out there that has supported the Honorable Shyne documentary to make it number one. So I am extremely grateful for the reception that we’ve gotten so far, especially in Belize. There are a lot of people that did not know the Shyne story and because I am a political figure, the PUP has done an effective job, that’s the only thing I can say they’ve done an effective job at in their tenure, in this administration. But even before that, a narrative has been crafted about Shyne Barrow that, as you can see in the documentary, for those of you that have seen it; whether hearing from my father himself, hearing from my mother that I did not grow up with even a bronze spoon in my mouth. Coming from a single parent household and everything that I have, I had to endure great suffering and sacrifice to get there. But, from a political opponent’s standpoint, it’s not a story that they would want to tell. So I am delighted that people have gotten to see the complete journey, whether you support me politically or not, I think this is a Belizean success story, a global success story and so I am happy that people at least get to see who I am.”

Does New Bio Doc Vindicate Shyne Barrow?

Barrow’s biography is both a cautionary tale and a rags-to-riches story, highlighting his journey of overcoming life’s challenges. But does it change the minds of his many critics back home in Belize? That’s what we asked him earlier. Here’s his response.

Isani Cayetano

“Do you feel vindicated now that your story is out there, for all the naysayers who would have written you off as a “just come” or a “fake” or whatever description of criticisms that they would have against you?”

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“I’m very grateful, as I said, to share in the story with Belizeans in particular. I’m happy that the world is drawn to the story because, as I said, it’s a human story, the human race. But in particular, when it comes to Belize, I mentioned, maybe it was to the Daily Show or one of those interviews that I did, that I’ve been working to be where I’m at for the last forty-six years, in particular for the last twenty-six years. I feel that the underdog has been vindicated, not just Shyne Barrow but this story, this documentary, the success of this documentary, the fact that this multibillion dollar, hundred billion dollar corporation like Disney is behind this, it says to all of the underdogs in the Belizean society and society at large, you know, that you are somebody, you do belong and it doesn’t matter what they naysayers say, it doesn’t matter what the detractors say, keep going, keep fighting, keep sacrificing, keep believing and your time will come.”

Isani Cayetano

“What is your relationship at this point with Juliet Thimbrel? If you look at the documentary, she spoke glowingly about you there and as of now, you guys are at loggerheads.”

Shyne Barrow

“I’m not at loggerheads with Juliet. I will always appreciate Juliet Thimbrel, you know, she was a friend and a sister at one point and I am not arguing with her. Whatever issues may be there, you’d have to ask her how she feels. But I only have love and good things in my heart when it comes to her.”

Weh Gaan on Wid Joe and Fonso Pan Wave?

Shyne Barrow and his leadership team returned to the U.D.P. headquarters on November eighth after a favorable High Court ruling. They also regained control of the party’s media outlets, including Wave Radio and the Guardian Newspaper. But what happened to talk show hosts Joe Bradley and Alfonso Noble? The duo, who had been on air since 2008, were swiftly removed last week when Barrow reclaimed the headquarters. Their removal came after they made scathing remarks about Opposition Leader Barrow on Wave’s “Fus Ting Da Maanin.

Isani Cayetano
“You’re back at the UDP headquarters after that legal outcome. What is the present status quo and share with us what some of the decisions have been in terms of the organs of the UDP, primarily the Guardian Newspaper and Wave Radio?”

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“Well, the status quo ante, as has been established by Justice Hondora which is that everything returns to the way it was until he makes a decision in the case. And that’s overall, everything, the Guardian, Wave, everything, even our UDP letterhead which I notice is still being unauthorizedly used by the Alliance.”

Isani Cayetano

“But there have been significant personnel changes in terms of the way the organs are now being run.”

Shyne Barrow

“It has been, to be clear, we’re looking at the Joe and Fonso situation because I am here to bring the party together, maybe to heal and get to reconcile, as long as people accept the status quo, accept who the leader is, who the leadership executive is, the duly elected leadership executive. So, we’re looking at how we can work with Joe and Fonso. So you’re hearing that here first. There has not been a termination letter sent, but it was definitely something that was contemplated based on the outburst that Fonso had and different things that they did. But we’re looking to see how we could incorporate them into the new structures of the Guardian and Wave.”

Shyne Remains Confident in His Candidates Ahead of Upcoming Elections

Does the early success of Shyne Barrow’s biography help boost momentum for his faction of the U.D.P.? While the documentary doesn’t delve into the party’s internal conflicts, Barrow is confident that his team of thirty-one candidates is working hard to win over voters by election day 2025.

Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition

“I do believe that the team that I have has to keep doing the work. I believe that they have the potential to deliver their seats and certainly this can only help this type of positivity, this type of disclosure as to many of the political myths, the political misconceptions. I think this removes many hurdles that we may have had because of the stigma, because of the dishonesty. Just the exaggerations and distortions when it came to who Shyne is, what is his motive, you know, da why he deh yah? I believe that politics is local and all of my standard bearers need to do their jobs, need to engage their people, need to build those relationships and relationships built on trust and confidence cannot be easily penetrated. So I have a great level of confidence that my standard bearers have been working judiciously and whatever they are doing will have no impact.”

Recycling Plastics – Less Hazardous on the Environment

You’ve probably walked past a pile of garbage and cringed at the sight and smell. It’s not just an eyesore; it attracts pests and rodents that can spread diseases. A lot of the trash in Belize is made up of recyclable materials, like plastics. Plastic bags, for example, take ten to twenty years to break down, lingering in the environment. Studies show that plastics and microplastics have infiltrated all levels of the ocean’s food chain and are also clogging our drainage and waterways in Belize. Plastics can bind with harmful chemicals, known as persistent organic pollutants, which pose a threat to the reproductive systems, growth, and health of animals that consume contaminated food. Plastic bottles can take hundreds of years to decompose. In this edition of our Five Point Breakdown, News Five explores the issue of plastic waste and how recycling efforts can help mitigate its environmental impact. Here’s Marion Ali with the report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

Plastics – they’re absolutely everywhere! Whether you’re at home, in the office, or shopping at the supermarket, you can’t escape them. They’re probably the most common items you’ll find in any building, unless there’s a ban in place and alternatives are being used. While many countries see plastics as a necessary evil, there are ways we can cut down on the plastic waste we generate. Dr. Arlenie Rogers, an Assistant Professor in Marine Biology at the University of Belize, suggests two key strategies: one proactive and the other reactive.

Minimizing Plastic Waste by Education & Recycling

Dr. Arlenie Rogers, Assistant Professor, Marine Biology, U.B.

“If we educate people, people will know, people will become more aware on how to recycle, but if we don’t have the right legislation in place, for example, a requirement where we have to separate our garbage into recyclables and garbage that cannot be recycled, then it’s going to be easier for people that collect recycling products at the landfill, or sorry, not at the landfill, at the transfer stations. And they will have less exposure to chemicals and other dangerous materials when garbage is all in one bag.”

Marion Ali

“One company in Belize wants to make a difference with the plastic garbage that we produce. Businessman Freddy Oriana is hoping to seek funding to be able to expand his Belize Recycling Company Limited at mile eight on the George Price Highway to be able to convert the plastic garbage into building materials such as plastic wood.”

Freddy Orellana, Owner, Belize Recycling Company Ltd.

“Mostly it’s the wood because you can make it different sizes and for different purposes too. You can build garbage bins, you can build chairs, you know, like picnic tables and things like that.”

Orellana shared that his company used to buy plastic waste to export to Guatemala, where it would be transformed into useful items. However, with the drop in purchasing prices, he’s had to hit pause on that part of the business. Despite this, he’s still happy to accept plastic donations, storing them with the hope that his recycling dream will soon come to life. His goal? To produce plastic wood as a sustainable building material.

Freddy Orellana

“If people want to bring it and donate it here, we process it and we file it and bail it and keep it. We visited various businesses in other countries, and they have strewing machines that have different molds, and we can use all the plastics to make this that we call plastic wood. You can add different colors, you can make different shapes. You can even build houses with it. This has a lot of benefits because it’s fire resistant, like bullets will be really hard to work through it.”

Orellana mentioned that plastic wood is actually tougher for bullets to penetrate compared to regular lumber.

(The Benefits of Building with Plastic Wood)

Freddy Orellana

“We had here a robbery at night and then somebody came with a gun and shot at the security guard, and then it went through the wood, but it wouldn’t go through this. So, this basically saved the person’s life.”

Luis Garcia, President, Belize Recyclers and Waste Management Association

“We’re gearing towards being that loophole between the private sector and government – that crossroads of building recycling opportunities in Belize. When we mean recycling, we mean doing recycling in Belize and selling recyclables out of Belize.”

Luis Garcia, the president of the newly formed Belize Recyclers and Waste Management Association, leads a group of over twenty passionate individuals and businesses united by a single mission: cutting down on plastic waste. They are currently exploring ways for Belize to make some cash by exporting plastic waste.

(Exploring Plastic Garbage as Part of Circular Economy)

Luis Garcia

“We have an interest from Taiwan of buying all the plastic bags from the banana industries, and we’re looking at tons of plastics there. So there is an interest there. There’s also an interest on the pet plastic, which is what is used for soft drinks. So we do have a lot of, interests that are already on the table, but we still need to put everything together and to make sure that we meet the volumes that make it sustainable. By just picking up a few crocus bags here and there, we just have to sell it to the nearest buyer, which would be Guatemala or Mexico. But if we can actually put everything together, all the efforts together and put policy in order, then we can actually build a recycling opportunity for Belize and develop recycling as a business and not just as an environmental willingness of people.”

Dr. Rogers believes that if Belize had laws requiring us to separate our garbage, it would make everyone responsible for not just reducing, but also organizing the waste we create, much of which is plastic.

(Separating Garbage Protects Recyclers)

Dr. Arlenie Rogers

“When we put our garbage in the drum, like in the cities and the towns, everything is in one. In other countries, their laws require people to separate their garbage. They separate organic waste, they separate plastic waste, they separate cans, they separate bottles. Everything is separated. So when the collection truck comes, it’s separated. If we were to have that in Belize, the people that are at the transfer station, the people that the recyclers, they would be less exposed to, you know, many chemicals that come with the garbage.”

Dr. Rogers thinks Belize needs to tighten up its laws for businesses that handle plastic containers. It’s time to get serious about regulating plastic use.

Enforcing the Laws on Businesses

Dr. Arlenie Rogers

“What needs to be done is to ensure that those companies that market themselves as producer of biodegradable products, that they are really complying, that they are indeed making biodegradable products. Secondly, Belize also needs to extend the enforcement of the Returnable Containers Act, because the Returnable Containers Act looks at glass and other beverage containers, and beverage containers are not only made of glass, they are made of plastic, they are made of metal. So if you want to minimize plastic, then the enforcement needs to be done on other companies and other distributors that are importing beverage containers that are producing plastic.”

Under current law, anyone caught importing restricted plastic products faces a hefty fine. They could be fined at least a thousand dollars or three times the value of the imported goods, but the penalty won’t exceed twenty thousand dollars. Marion Ali for News Five.

Experts Say Belize’s Lobster Stocks Dwindling

For years, Belizeans have casually remarked that the country’s fisherfolk were overfishing lobster. These opinions often stem from witnessing the mass sales of undersized lobsters. Now, the Belize Federation of Fishers (B.F.F.), a non-profit organization, has released data from the Belize Fisheries Project in 2024, confirming these concerns. The evidence shows that public sentiment is indeed accurate. Supporting the B.F.F.’s findings, their partner, Sea Around Us, has presented compelling evidence to the government, indicating that Belize’s lobster stocks are at risk due to irresponsible fishing practices and a lack of strict enforcement by authorities. The B.F.F. has even warned that without stringent measures, such as significantly reducing the number of fishing licenses, Belize’s lobster stocks could be depleted within three years! Here’s News Five’s Marion Ali with Part One of a three-part report on the state of Belize’s lobster stocks.

Marion Ali, Reporting

On a random day, personnel from the Belize Fisheries Department, accompanied by the GI-3 Unit of the Belize Police Department scour the waters offshore the mainland to conduct searches and raids. They are looking for persons engaged in illegal fishing, and because the lobster season is open, particularly undersized lobster. The open lobster season means that some fishermen will wantonly extract legal as well as undersized lobster. On this Sunday, in August 2024, the patrol visited two fishing camps within a ten-mile distance from Belize City and stopped the only fishing vessel it came across in that two-hour patrol in that area that afternoon.

Hampton Gamboa, Compliance Unit Supervisor, Belize Fisheries Department

“Everybody got license?”

Fishermen

“Yeah.”

Hampton Gamboa

“Bout how much pound ah lobster unu have more or less total, estimated, in terms ah weight, pounds?

Fisherman

“like 3 – 350.”

The patrols are led by the Fisheries Department’s Conservation Compliance Unit Supervisor, Hampton Gamboa, who is responsible for enforcing fisheries regulations and compliance in the blue spaces across Belize. The patrols have become a major part of an improved enforcement system, he said, partly because of the dwindling lobster stocks in the region, and partly because of the research findings that non-government organizations like the Belize Federation of Fishers and the Sea Around Us have presented to the government. Dr Daniel Pauly is a Professor, Marine Biologist and lead researcher for The Sea Around Us.

Dr. Daniel Pauly, Marine Biologist

“The point is to maintain the fishing effort – the number of fishers, the number of gear, the number of boats or whatever at a certain level, that’s called managing the stock and the stocks in Belize are not managed right. So, what is happening now is that the lobster population is down and cannot generate the catch that it generated before. And the only way you can overcome that problem is fishing less for a while. If you fish less for a while, the stock can recover and if it recovers, then it can generate again and a big catch.”

George Myvett, Technical Advisor, Belize Federation of Fishers

“If serious measures are not taken to reverse and or to essentially stop the status quo of allowing an open-access fishery to continue, then we’re looking at two to three years before the industry crashes. There has to be a cap on the amount of licenses. because obviously, the resources are not only finite, but they are really in decline.”

Dwight Neal is a marine biologist who worked for 20 years with the Belize Fisheries Department before departing the government service to work in the NGO community in protected areas management. He has a completely different position on the state of Belize’s lobster stocks, but he believes there needs to be proper management of our lobster stocks.

Dwight Neal, Marine Biologist

“I don’t necessarily want to project that kind of gloom and doom picture. I don’t think it’s as bad as that, but it definitely needs management. It needs urgent attention. What it requires is a combination of policy, management decisions and enforcement. And in most cases, we have the policy, and we have some of the management. Enforcement is a very expensive exercise, so while you can do policy and management primarily from a desk or from an office, enforcement, not so much. You need boats, you need bodies in boats, you need people to be out there.”

The Belize Federation of Fishers is headed by George Myvett, also a former Senior Fisheries Officer with the Belize Fisheries Department. He says the Federation relies on scientific research information provided by the Fisheries Project to form its position. The only viable way forward, he says, is for Belize to stick to its international commitments.

George Myvett

“We’re looking at the commitment that Belize has made to regional conservation efforts and one of those measures is to discontinue the harvesting of the four-ounce tails. This is so because the smaller size classes, the four-ounce tails (lobsters) have not had a chance to reproduce.”

Hampton Gamboa says the Fisheries Department has become more vigilant and has been enforcing the laws on its sea patrols, which sometimes include the Belize Coast Guard.

Hampton Gamboa

“Every tail that they have in their possession, lobster tail, has to exceed four ounces, and if it’s whole lobsters, then it has to exceed three inches in carapace length. So those are primarily what we look for as enforcement officers to ensure that the fishermen are in compliance with our laws and regulation.”

Myvett suggested that a two-year moratorium be implemented to give the lobster stock time to replenish itself.

In part two of this story, we’ll hear from two fishermen, who agree that there is overfishing of this valuable marine product.

This story was produced with support from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.