By Zoila Palma: The Belize Fisheries Department has removed 4 illegally set, unattended gillnets measuring approximately 3,120 feet during a nighttime enforcement operation in southern Belize. The operation was conducted on October 15 by the Department’s Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Unit in Punta Gorda at the Temash River Estuary.
The Department says that the longest net stretched more than 2,400 feet across the estuary and had a two-inch mesh size. Officers found approximately 300 small fish entangled in the net, while another net contained a dead tarpon measuring about two feet long. The recovery operation took approximately two hours to complete.
The Department reported that officers encountered a hostile response from individuals in the surrounding community during the operation.
However, because the nets were unattended, those responsible for setting them could not be identified. Officers extended their patrol but did not find any additional fishing gear.
The Fisheries Department reminded the public that the Fisheries Resources (Gill Net Prohibition) Regulations, 2020, prohibit the use and possession of gillnets in Belize’s fisheries waters, as well as the landing, sale, purchase or possession of fish caught using them.
The Department warned that indiscriminate gillnet use threatens juvenile and non-target fish, aquatic wildlife and the sustainability of fish populations, and urged fishers and the public to report suspected illegal fishing activities.
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