$2 Mill for Gillnetters to transition!

So, what happens now to the gillnetters who are surrendering their gears? The Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries says that they have been working with the eighty-three licensed gill net fishers for over a year to help them transition to more sustainable forms of fishing or to seek alternative livelihoods. A part of the ban is that that fishers will be assisted with financing and resources and those fishers will now benefit from a two million dollar fund to help them move away from the harmful gear.  Andrew Roe of the Coalition and Janelle Chanona of Oceana explains how the beneficiaries will access the fund:

Andrew Roe, The Coalition For Sustainable Fisheries

Andrew Roe

“During that period, the Coalition and Oceana began to raise funds and during that period we raised funds and collectively we raised two million Belize dollars in order to push through a transition and ultimately a ban on gillnets.”

Janelle Chanona

Janelle Chanona, VP, Oceana Belize

“Oceana’s funds will be handed over in cash to the fishers who have been declared beneficiaries to the transition efforts. They will receive an initial payment in November and starting in December they will receive a monthly disbursement for twenty-three months and that is to make sure that they can replace the incomes that they would have derive from gillnetting. They can apply that however they want whether it is covering their needs at home or applying it to different types of fishing. Those are the types of conversation that we have been having with the fishers’ through-out and there is actually a contract that each fisher signs with Oceana to say this is what I have been talking to Oceana about; this is what I understand; this is what I receive and this is what I am committed to doing. As a part of that contract they will be handing over their nets to us as a sign of their commitment to not using the gear.”