Dr. Maria ‘Deng’ Palomares, with Belizean fishers. Photo by the
Belize Fisheries Project.
Belizean fishers’ experience in the water confirms the declining trends in fishery catches – and, therefore, in fish populations – uncovered by the Belize Fisheries Project (BFP), of which the Sea Around Us is a member together with Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI), the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative (HRI) and MRAG Americas.
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The Sea Around Us performed stock assessments using the CMSY++ methodology for 18 fish and invertebrate species. The results suggested that most species are unsustainably fished. At the same time, an independent study by the Healthy Reefs Initiative also found a 60 per cent decline in groupers and snappers and marine ecologist Alexander Tewfik and colleagues documented unsustainable trends for conch and lobster across selected fishing grounds.
