Twenty fishermen arrested in southern waters
On Tuesday, the fisheries vessel Lutjanus set out on its first operation since the boat was refurbished. The vessel, with a special multi-agency force including members of the Fisheries Department, Immigration and the police, ventured down south to Gladden Split about nineteen miles from Placencia. The four-day operation was a major success as it resulted in the first big catch for the year 2000. A total of twenty fishermen was arrested: three Guatemalans, ten Hondurans and seven Belizeans. Besides the arrest, six fishing vessels, approximately one thousand feet of net, forty-one fishing lines, two hundred pounds of fish and a quantity of undersized lobster were confiscated. Liston McCord is the Acting Chief Captain of the Enforcement Unit.
Liston McCord, Acting Chief Captain, Enforcement Unit
“Late in the evening on Wednesday on the “snapper bank” we saw a small fishing vessel and two occupants fishing. They tried to run away, we chased them and got them and we found them to be Hondurans fishing without a fisherman license and boat license. They had also entered illegally into the country to fish. The following day, we left the boat for the snapper bank in the night; we left probably about three thirty. When we got there, there was no Honduran out there but we found three Guatemalans who all had fishermen license and boat license setting a net on the reef. They actually had the net on the reef. We waited until they were finished taking up the net, which had quite a large number of lobsters and corals; they were ripping up the corals with the net. We arrested them and the team took them to Dangriga where they prosecuted the case. Actually we got a conviction on that one.”
Q: “How many Guatemalans were arrested?”
Liston McCord
“Three. On Thursday in the evening we went back out there again about five o’clock and because one of the other boats had gone to Dangriga to prosecute the first case, we only had one boat left. To our surprise they had about fifteen Hondurans, fifteen boats out there and we only had four officers. So we actually managed to arrest eight Hondurans in four boats.”
Q: “Why did you all pick this specific day to go out and do this operation?”
Liston McCord
“Basically because it is the grouper season and these Hondurans take the chance because if they don’t get caught they get away with quite a handsome amount of fish.”
All the Hondurans arrested were from Omoa. All those arrested were convicted in the Dangriga Magistrate’s Court and a variety of fines imposed, the largest of which was one thousand five hundred dollars. The boats and tackle became the property of the Fisheries Department. According to McCord, the catch will be donated to the School Feeding Program as well as Mercy Kitchen. The Fisheries Department reminds the public to observe the laws which were enacted to promote a sustainable fishing industry.
