To: Colin bh

In response to your January 20 inquiry: after the Hon. Servulo Baeza concluded that gill net fishing must be outlawed, in its entirety, to save the Fisheries, there was a Cabinet shuffle and the Hon. Mike Espat replaced him as Minister of Fisheries.

The criminal charges against the Fisheries Officer for selling licenses to the Guatemalan gill net fishermen were dismissed and the law was changed so that the Guatemalan gill net fishermen could obtain licenses to fish in Belize.

Tourism would be one of the great beneficiaries resulting from the outlawing of gill net fishing. Texas outlawed gill net fishing and nearly extinct species of fish came roaring back. As a result, Texas developed a billion-dollar sport fishing industry.

Belize’s tourism industry would profit by hundreds of millions of dollars annually from an increased sport fishing industry if gill nets were outlawed. The Fisheries would also profit, along with added employment.

Kenneth Gale