Slaughter of Belize’s “Jaguars of the Sea”

During the latter part of December 2006, and through January 2007, TIDE’s

A boat tucked away among the mangrove on No-name Caye.

Rangers noticed unusual activity taking place in and around the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. To be more specific, something was going on at Small No- Name Caye, which is right in the middle of the 160 square mile reserve and adjacent to Abalone Caye where a TIDE Ranger Station is based.

The Rangers noticed a group of individuals camping out on Small No-Name Caye and apparently fishing for sharks in the Reserve with gillnets (a type of fishing gear that is illegal due to their indiscriminate killing of fish, turtles and other marine species that are endangered or threatened).  The individuals did not speak English, nor appear to be from Belize, but yet they did have valid licenses to fish in Belize (a topic for another article entirely).  There were many gillnets on the caye, but none in the water – bringing up a legal technicality.  When Rangers find gillnets set in the waters of the Reserve they are required to confiscate them. But if nets are found on land, even on a caye in the Reserve, there is no proof they were being used in the Reserve, and so there is little that can be done but educate the people on the regulations of the Reserve and the damage caused by gillnets. The individuals claimed that all their fishing was done outside the Reserve and that they only used the caye to camp

Four Barrels filled with salted shark meat.

on, with permission from the owner.

More upsetting than gillnets however, were the hundreds of dead sharks the men had caught. The many species of sharks identified included Scalloped and Great Hammerheads, which are listed as Globally Endangered to extinction and on the IUCN Red List of threatened species of flora and fauna. All of the shark meat and fins are taken in time for the Lenten season to a local middleman in Guatemala for resale to buyers from Guatemala City and Asia. Effectively, Southern Belize’s top predators, who have been called “the jaguars of the sea”, are removed from Belize and handed to neighboring countries for the price of a few fishing and export licenses.  Examination of a large pregnant blacktip shark revealed that she was just days away from giving birth to three pups, a process that happens only occasionally due to the long pregnancies and low birth rate of sharks.  That one catch by these men prevented several future generations of blacktip sharks from living. 

Though the removal of so many sharks was breaking the hearts of the conservation community, who realize there are so few of these important predators left in the sea and the actions like that of these fishermen are taking a great toll on remaining populations, there seemed little that TIDE could do to stop them.  If they were not fishing in the Reserve, and they had valid licenses, what could be done?

In response, TIDE met with local shark expert and marine biologist, Dr. Rachel T.

Shark Fins scattered on the Caye.

Graham, of the Wildlife Conservation Society, and discussed the threats. Rachel and her team have been conducting a broad survey of sharks in rays in Southern Belize with results indicating a dramatic decline in the number of sharks in the region due to overfishing. Since sharks and rays are critically important to structuring reef fish communities, keeping everything in balance, their loss is likely to be catastrophic for the reef. Rachel visited Small No-Name Caye and surveyed both fishers and captures, and reported the findings back to TIDE that same evening. Rachel found that the shark fishers had brought in 15 sharks, including Caribbean sharpnose sharks, the endangered hammerheads and several blacktips including the pregnant individual. Six of the eight 50 gallon barrels used by the fishers to store the salted shark meat were full, representing an estimated 720kg of meat (based on each barrel holding 3 quintales or 120 kg). Other shark fishers had revealed in previous surveys that one barrel represented the accumulated filets of 300 Caribbean sharpnose sharks or 250 small to medium sized blacktips. This represents an astounding number of sharks.

Dismayed at the news that this was occurring in the heart of the marine reserve, TIDE decided to step up its patrols and continuously monitor the fishermen until they grew tired of seeing the Rangers every day. The tactic worked: after a week of around the clock patrols the fishermen packed up their gear and their hundreds of pounds of shark fins and meat, and left the Reserve.  Though they have not yet

Shark remains floating in the water amongs the mangrove's edge.

returned to Port Honduras, we cannot be sure if they gave up or if they are still catching sharks in other parts of Belizean waters. TIDE hopes that the information collected on sharks and rays in Port Honduras will help towards the development of national shark-specific regulations to ensure management and conservation of these vulnerable yet important species.

The surveillance and patrols conducted by TIDE’s Rangers are made possible with donations from people who support the work we do in conserving the natural resources of the District.  We would like our donors and sponsors to know that we appreciate the support we receive from them and that it would not be possible to reach our goals without them.  

To help TIDE stop unsustainable extractive activities such as the shark fishing from happening in Belize, please visit our home page, sign up to become a member, and read more about our work. United, we can conquer all threats to our country’s fantastic wildlife and stop the unsustainable fishing of sharks in our country.