Three Men Arrested for Illegal Fishing | Love Live

追加: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Keeping the nation informed of the latest developments in Belize with the most reliable information. Here is Love FM's [music] news update.

[00:00:12]We will be joining Paul Mahung for a live update. Paul I'll take it. It is a lovely uh sunny afternoon here in Punta Gorda.

[00:00:26]And for Love Live update, I'd like to mention that I'm at the Tide compound uh where uh information indicates that three men of Honduran nationality have been arrested for illegal fishing.

[00:00:40]But to tell us more of this event or this what what had happened is no other than Tide's Toledo Institute for Development and Environment site manager for Sapodilla Cays Marine Reserve, Mr. Marty Alvarez.

[00:00:56]Thank you, Mr. Paul.

[00:00:57]Um so just to begin uh I'd like to say that Tide prides itself in conservation.

[00:01:03]And we do provide protection um over the marine protected areas that we co-manage, both Port Honduras Marine Reserve and Sapodilla Cays Marine Reserve. So on May 22nd, Friday last week, our conservation officers, we used to call them rangers but they're conservation officers, so they were conducting patrol within their area of responsibility, which is Sapodilla Cays. And within a specific zone, conservation zone four, which is uh conservation zone for the protection of biodiversity, we intercepted three Honduran nationals that were fishing illegally within that location.

[00:01:40]Um subsequently, they were detained.

[00:01:44]They were brought in to Punta Gorda town and then they were arrested and charged and they were handed over to the Punta Gorda police station. So there were several charges that had occurred.

[00:01:55]So for one, they were fishing in a prohibited zone, which is conservation zone four within the Sapodilla Caye's Marine Reserve. They were also charged with uh fishing without a valid fisherfolk license. You have to be a Belizean to have a fisherfolk license commercially, you know. And they were also charged with fishing in a vessel that is not registered to fish in Belizean waters.

[00:02:19]And they were also charged with having um fish fillet without skin patch. So, in Belize, it is illegal to have fish fillet without a skin patch. You need to have a skin patch to identify which fish you are catching.

[00:02:36]Are there any other equipments or items that you would like to comment on that they were found with? Okay, so they were also found with um their fishing equipment, which include GPS, sonar, um fishing lines, um and they were also found with other marine products, which include uh barracudas, uh 18 barracudas. We had some amberjacks.

[00:03:00]We had some snappers, and we had um their bait, which was I think it was sardines, a a a selection of sardines.

[00:03:08]Okay, you mentioned that they were arrested uh by of uh handed over to the police in Punta Gorda. Yes. So, um while our conservation officers on patrol, while they were on patrol, of course, along with the Belize Coast Guard, we always have to have them a part of along with us, of course, because of the location of that of that site, um it's a sensitive location and a sensitive site.

[00:03:32]The Belize Coast Guard, we work together in partnership, having that collaboration to do that joint patrol, and with that, we brought them into town along with the Belize Fishery Department, who successfully prosecuted that that case. So, they were they were charged for those um aforementioned fines that I've mentioned before.

[00:03:50]Well, thank you very much, Mr. Martin Alvarez and I'm going to mention the the co-worker relationship you have with your conservation officers and the Belize Coast Guard out in that area. And I I realize that beside the Sapodilla Caye Marine Reserve that TIDE is co-manages three other protected areas, a total of four that's Sapodilla Caye Marine Reserve, TIDE private protected lands, Payne's Creek National Park, and of course Port Honduras Marine Reserve.

[00:04:21]Uh before we leave any final comments for you, sir? No, um I would just like to tell the general public that you know what, with their support, especially the fishermen, um we would like to get them on board with us, continue working with us, stay within the regulations, that would help us as well. And of course, respect the the conservation zones. They're there for a reason. It's again, the protection of marine biodiversity. So, I want to thank everyone. I want to thank the Belize Fishery Department, the Belize Coast Guard, and of course, um the Immigration Department. As we close in this love live update from the TIDE compound here in Punta Gorda, we close in with all love and best wishes to all in Belize and beyond as we take it back to our technician Giovanni and Tamar in studios.

[00:05:06]This has been Love FM's news update, keeping the nation informed with the latest in news.

[00:05:13]Love FM news [music] and music power.

[00:05:18]Thank you very much. We must say a huge thank you to Paul Mahung, our senior Toledo correspondent, for keeping us informed of what's happening in the district of Toledo. It is 9 minutes to 4:00.