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Belize National Adaptive Multispecies Finfish Management Plan

Belize City, Belize - November 2025

Prepared By:

The Belize Multispecies Finfish Fishery Management Plan has been prepared by Kendra Karr of Pincoya Solutions, at the request of the Belize Fisheries Department and WWF-US, in support of the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative. This fishery management has been revised and endorsed by the Belize Fisheries Department. 

Introduction:

The Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) is the world’s second-largest barrier reef system, spanning 700 miles from the tip of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula to the Bay Islands of Honduras. Within the MAR lies the Belize Barrier Reef, the longest barrier reef in the northern and western hemispheres, located along Belize's coast. The Belize Barrier Reef and the broader MAR system are highly biodiverse and home to many species that are both important sources of food and essential to two major economic sectors in the region: fisheries and tourism (McField and Kramer, 2005; Garcia-Salgado et al., 2008; Muhling et al., 2013). The MAR and the people whose livelihoods depend on it have benefitted from decades of governmental, institutional, and private philanthropic investment in establishing nearly 50 marine protected areas (MPAs) (Healthy Reefs, 2020). 

As is the case in many if not most other geographic contexts, however, MPAs alone cannot sufficiently protect the MAR ecosystem, due to their limited spatial scale and the pervasiveness of certain fishing activities. While 7.61% of Belize’s territorial sea and an additional 6.28% of Belize’s EEZ are under no-take status (due to the recent expansion of Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve) (Belize Fisheries Department statistics, 2021), there is a risk of overfishing in unprotected areas in the absence of a well-implemented, well-enforced, science-based fishery management plan. In addition, some degree of illegal fishing undoubtedly occurs within MPA boundaries (Cox et al., 2017). Apart from global climate impacts that threaten all reefs (ICRI, 2013; IPCC, 2014), overfishing is considered the largest anthropogenic threat to reef biodiversity, environmental conservation, and the provision of ecosystem services critical to food security, productivity, and income generation in the region. 

High-value lobster and conch fisheries in the region are often prioritized for management. But a significantly greater contribution to coral reef health could be made through the effective management of mixed-species finfish fisheries within the MAR system, because most significant ecological cascades in reef systems that result in reef degradation are closely related to the depletion of finfishes (Hughes, 1994; Mumby et al., 2006, 2007; Hughes et al., 2007; Edwards et al., 2013; Ruppert et al., 2013). However, a main barrier to the effective management of finfish in the region – one that has yet to be reliably overcome – is the sheer number of species for which management must account. Even the most up-to-date data-limited stock assessment approaches are unlikely to be maintainable, species-by-species, in such a complex and species-rich setting. 

Approximately one third of the MAR falls within Belize’s territorial sea and management; actions taken in Belize will continue to play an important role in determining its future state (Healthy Reefs, 2015). Belize maintains a network of MPAs and Managed Access Areas (MAAs; areas in which access and fishing activity are closely monitored and controlled), employs a relatively extensive data collection program, and administers a framework for the assignment of secure fishing rights within MAAs.  

Implementation Plan:

The multispecies finfish fishery in Belize is an essential component of national food security, coastal livelihoods, and the Blue Economy. This management plan presents a structured and adaptive approach focused on species classification, regulatory updates, licensing reforms, catch reporting, capacity building, data collection, financing, and risk mitigation. The proposed implementation plan is a recommendation; the Fisheries Department will review the timeline and proposed activities, and then the Fisheries Department will support stakeholder outreach to finalize the development of an implementation plan.