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Like most places where we fish the flats, the Belize flats fishery
has challenges that must be addressed to ensure a healthy
future for the flats fishery. The encouraging thing is that, like
many other locations, the guides and lodges of Belize are
organizing to address these challenges. The momentum behind
the renewed effort toward fishery conservation was reflected in
November 2014, during the first Belize Flats Fishing Summit.
The Summit brought together more than 40 guides and lodge
owners from throughout coastal Belize, from Punta Gorda in the
south to San Pedro in the north, and points in between. The
guides came together to discuss the challenges in their home
waters and to find a common theme moving forward toward
better national management of the flats resources.
The summit was much needed. During my travel in Belize, and
conversations with guides and lodge owners throughout the
country, it was apparent there was a strong and growing concern
among those in the fishery that something had to be done, and
soon. The most amazing thing was that the percep tions of the
guides and lodge owners about the top threats to the flats fishery
were the same. What was missing was a national conversation.
The common views on threats to the fishery were readily obvious
at the summit. A representative of each of the regions of Belize—
north, central, south—gave a brief presentation about the top
threats and concerns in their
region. Although none of the
speakers had compared notes,they each reported the same top threats: gillnets (which they want
banned), lack of enforcement of existing laws and habitat loss. The
regional presentations were quickly backed up by comments and
discussion by their fellow guides. The personal accounts were
compelling. I think many were surprised to find that others shared
their experiences, which helped the group quickly reach a plan for
moving forward.
The result of the Summit was that the guides and lodge owners
began the process of creating a national-level association to
represent their concerns with the government of Belize. A small
group was nominated by those at the summit to start working on
formulating specific goals, objectives and a strategy for the new
association that will address threats to the fishery and propose
solutions. This is an important first step.
BTT will continue to work with guides and lodges to conduct the
scientific research needed to support flats fishery conservation
and provide advice as requested. I know that Jim Klug of Yellow
Dog (a sponsor of the summit, along with the Radisson hotel in
Belize City) and I were both impressed with the forward-thinking
of the guide community and have high hopes for the future of the
Belize flats fishery.Moving Forward
Information critical to the efforts of the guides and lodge owners in
Belize includes identification of important habitats. We are
addressing this in part through a tag-recapture program. Guides
and their anglers are tagging bonefish and permit so we can
identify their home ranges. Although the process is slow, the
information is important enough that we have to remain persistent.
We are now planning to enter a new phase—identification of
spawning locations for permit and bonefish. The first step is
conducting interviews with long-time guides, but more important,
we will be interviewing commercial fishermen and SCUBA divers
who spend a lot of time on the barrier reef that lays offshore.
Based on our general knowledge of permit and bonefish
spawning, both species spawn on the outer edge of the reef or
beyond—permit at reef promontories, bonefish off the edge.PROJECT:
D R. A A R O N J. A D A M S
is Director of Operations for Bonefish & Tarpon Trust
Photos by Dr. Aaron J. Adams