On Sunday March 23, 2024; the Tri-national Alliance for the Conservation of Gulf of Honduras (TRIGOH) under the Biodiversity Program: Linking the Central American Landscape Project funded by IUCN sponsored a Fisher Forum with Fishers from Southern Belize. TIDE officially took over the Presidency for TRIGOH recently in February 2024.
The fisher’s forum was held in Seine Bights Village, Stann Creek District and was attended by over 45 fisherfolk across the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts.
The forum objectives were:
- To learn about the current situation of fisheries and fisherfolk on the coasts of the Gulf of Honduras: challenges and opportunities.
- Socialize and identify successful initiatives on economic alternatives in coastal communities of the Gulf of Honduras carried out by members and strategic allies.
Fisherfolk had the opportunity to learn about and discuss various topics presented by TRIGOH, Belize Fisheries Department, MarAlliance, The Nature Conservancy, Humana, People to People Belize, and Fishers4Science. The discussions were frank and open, sometimes heated, but in the end productive.
At the end of the session fishers selected community representatives that will represent fishers at a Tri-national Fisher Forum tentatively proposed in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala in the month of May 2024.