Honduran fishermen caught fishing illegally

While it admits patrolling our waters is difficult, the Fisheries Department has netted itself a nice haul. Around nine fifteen yesterday morning, four Hondurans were found drop fishing in Grouper’s Bank in the Glovers Reef atoll. The Fisheries Department says it is common to find illegal fishermen in the area and has increased its patrols.

Orlando Lino, Fisheries Officer

“We get by North Point of Glovers Reef and we see a boat in the atoll itself and it look like, same time the boat see we and they cut anchor and we pursue them. We drove after them in the waters for about twenty minutes.”

Q: “What happened when you came upon the boat?”

Orlando Lino

“The people them decide to give up and we brought them to the Dangriga Police Station and detained them there.”

The men were found with fishing supplies and over three hundred pounds of fish. They had no identification for their vessel and identified themselves as Heriberto Cabrera, Julio Sesar Reyes, Manuel De Jesus Moreno and Jose Orellano, all of Puerto Cortes, Honduras. They will be charged for illegal fishing tomorrow in the Magistrate’s Court, then the Immigration Department will begin its own proceedings against the men for illegal entry. The Honduran fishermen claim that they work for another Honduran named Raul Palacio. The Fisheries Department says Palacio is known for sending Hondurans into Belizean waters to fish. The fish confiscated will be sent to a needy organization decided on by the courts.