Hurricane, illegal fishing hurt lobster industry
It’s a major industry that’s one hundred percent Belizean owned and provides a solid living for families the entire length of the coast and cayes. With the 2001 lobster season only four days old, News 5’s Jose Sanchez decided to dive in.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
After last year’s hurricane there has been a lot of concern about the future of the fishing industry. Lobster fishermen were particularly hard hit by the loss of traps in the storm. Now with the season into its first week, the general manager of Northern Fishermen Co-operative, Robert Usher, says the catch has been disappointing. One reason may be a visitor named Keith.
Robert Usher, G.M., Northern Fishermen Co-operative
“Keith has affected mostly the northern part of the country and because it came from the leeward side, it brought a lot of the mangrove, dust, silt, and mud into the ocean and seabed. It kind of made a mess of things. I think it destroyed a lot of the habitat, I think it’s not going to be this season, but probably another season before there’s a complete one hundred percent recovery of the lobster.”
The co-op would normally receive about three thousand pounds of lobster per day, but they are receiving half that amount. According to one veteran fisherman, even though his two day catch was satisfactory, the effects of last year’s hurricane are still present.
Percy Flowers, Fisherman
“Keith wreck up a lot of things, it damaged the rocks. I do traps, so I know the men who dive will have a bit more problem, the rocks break up and they moved, I think down farther south. So you have to go deep south to find more lobster.”
But aside from natural disasters, bad fishing practices continue to hinder the industry.
Percy Flowers
“You have the Belize City boys raid them then bring them to sell. So when the season opens they say it’s slow because they already catch them.”
Joe Requena, Fisherman
“In the dead season, you don’t see a patrol boat out there. All you see out there is men that are working the lobster out of season and the bad part is that they are wrenching my things and I can’t work it. I won’t work it because I go with the rules, but you have a lot of men out there who don’t respect the rules at all.”
The rules are important because during the closed period, the specie is given a chance to reproduce and grow to adult size. Two thousand fishermen and their families depend on that growth and that is why the Fisheries Department takes its job seriously.
Beverly Wade, Fisheries Administrator, Fisheries Dept.
“One of our major activities is the education of our fishermen to educate them on why management is necessary. To educate them on the importance of compliance with the fisheries regulation because the fisheries regulations are actually in place to protect this animal during critical periods of its life cycle, to ensure that we have a healthy population here in Belize.”
An additional problem is the persistence of Guatemalans and Hondurans illegally fishing in our waters.
Beverly Wade
“The job to properly patrol our waters in Belize is overwhelming not only for the Fisheries Department, for immigration and for customs. Because illegal fishing in Belize is not only a Fisheries problem, it is first and foremost an immigration and national security problem, because in the very beginning, these people should not be in our waters illegally. It’s an overwhelming task but the Fisheries Department along with the other government department and agencies who are responsible for these other aspects of law enforcement work together from time to time.”
Fisheries and Immigration sometimes carry out joint patrols, and if anyone is caught with lobster between February 14 and June fourteenth, they can be fined up to thirty-five dollars per specimen or six months in jail. However, there is still a need for more enforcement.
Joe Requena
“So far I will tell you the truth, things look very scarce, like I said in the dead season you have a lot of man working, you understand. It’s not that the lobsters are not there, but they work it. By the time the season opens, the place is clean. It’s not only me, a lot of people out there doing the same thing. When they go to work their things, nothing there.”
Reporting for News 5, Jose Sanchez.
Lobster production has been relatively stable over the last decade, leading experts to conclude that the catch has reached its maximum sustainable level.
