July 25, 2010
Dear Editor,
What is the bonefish worth? A recent article in a US magazine determined that each bonefish in Florida is worth US$3,200 per year – and bonefish can live to be 20 years of age.
For many years, government officials have recognized that Belize’s main sports fish, bonefish, permit and tarpon, need protection as the valuable resources that they are. Belize is one of only a few places in the world where a sports fisherman can catch a bonefish, permit and tarpon all in one day, which is known in the sports fishing world as a “Grand Slam”. The most challenging portion of the Grand Slam is catching the permit and Belize is generally known as “the permit capital of the world”.
In 2007 a comprehensive study entitled “The Economic Impact of Recreational Sports Fishing for Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon in Belize for 2007” brought a fuller understanding of this matter. Dr. Anthony Fedler’s study, which was verified and endorsed by Dr. Vincent Palacio at the University of Belize, found that these three species alone generated 56 million dollars to the Belizean economy in 2007 and provided 1800 fulltime jobs for Belizeans. This amounts to 6% of the entire tourism economy in Belize, which now accounts for approximately 24% of Belize’s GDP. It is also interesting to note that the sports fishing industry in Belize overwhelmingly focuses on these three species, with 93.5% of sports fishermen in Belize targeting these species.
In response to these facts and with the urging of conservationists and the sports fishing industry in Belize, Ministers Hon. Manuel Heredia and Hon. Rene Montero pushed for Catch and Release protection for these species and legislation was finally being enacted in September 2009. It is important to point out that sport fishermen have practiced catch and release for many years in Belize and elsewhere and that the real significance of this law is that it applies to all persons in Belize. As stated in SI 114, “no one, save and except in the act of catch and release, may….”
As the catch and release legislation was being developed, the idea of a Sports Fishing License entered the picture. The Sports Fishing Industry endorsed the concept of a license with the understanding that revenues from the license would be used to enforce the protections for these fish and as long as the license was done properly.
As the legislative process continued, the two issues were split and eventually two separated SI’s were enacted; SI 114 under the Department of Fisheries which established Catch and Release protection for bonefish, permit and tarpon, and SI 115 under Coast Zone which established the Sports Fishing License.
Although the two SI have often been discussed in unison, they are very different matters, with SI 114 being a statute set out to protect an important economic resource in Belize and SI 115 enacted to establish a new license.
There has been considerable controversy in the recent media about the Sports Fishing License. The sports fishing industry supports the changes recently proposed by the Coastal Zone, including 1) an exemption for fishing guides, as this license was never meant to apply to fishing guides, 2) an exemption for those under the age of 16 and over the age of 65 3) that a license should not be required for those fishing from a dock, pier or the seashore and 4) that only those persons actually fishing from a boat and not everyone on board should be required to have a license.
Let’s all keep in mind that the heart of this long process, Catch and Release protection for bonefish, permit and tarpon, is good public policy and good law. We urge that the issues related to the Sports Fishing License be kept in perspective and that no one make the terrible mistake of throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Catch and Release is a term used for catching fish and releasing them back into their environment without harming them. Think about three species generating $56 million to be caught and released back into their natural environment to reproduce, to carry out their ecological contribution towards the environment. Is this not what sustainability aims to achieve? The use of our resources without destroying or jeopardizing the resource? Belizeans, this simply shows that these fish are simply too valuable to be caught and sold in a market for a few dollars per pound. If managed properly these species will bring approximately $600 million dollars into the Belizean economy in the next 10 years.
Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon are now protected in Belize. Let’s be a part of the growth and movement towards sustainability in Belize: support the protection of these species so that our children will be able to reap the sustained economic benefits. “Kech ah rilees da no jus fi mee or u, kech ah rilees da di fucha fi Belize”
Alex Anderson & Craig Hayes
Turneffe Atoll Trust
P.O. Box 1676
Belize City