Posted: Wednesday, July 2, 2025. 9:58 pm CST.
By Aaron Humes: Police are investigating a reported aggravated assault at sea over the weekend.
According to police, on Sunday, around 11:30 a.m., they received a report from a fisherman that on the previous day, on his way from his fishing camp at Water Caye, he observed men known to him and known to be in the practice of intimidating fishermen circulating the area where his lobster traps lay.
As the accuser headed to the area, one of the men aimed a firearm at him from his boat, and he retreated, along with two other persons. He specifically alleged that the two men police are now looking for are alleged to have done this sort of thing before.
The Belize Federation of Fishers (BFF) sent a statement earlier this week adding further details, saying that the group of fishers who were allegedly menaced “traditionally fish in the waters off Water Caye,” while the alleged aggressors “did not fish in the area but were allegedly scouting the area suspiciously.”
The Federation said that while law enforcement intervened this time, incidents like these are not isolated and have in fact become “more frequent and more severe,” and are defined as ‘piracy’ – a battle for territory extending to the outright stealing of harvested products, fishing supplies and equipment as a result of declining stock and a greater number of entrants to the industry, increasing competition.
The Federation observes that “Lobster trapping, which is the backbone of the Fishing has historically entailed some informal tenure-ship over the seafloor by fishers…” and that incidents of threats, intimidation and outright violence are rarely reported and undocumented, citing reports of activity in the Turneffe Atoll.
The lobster season began on Tuesday and the Federation calls for fishermen to begin reporting such incidents to police and the Coast Guard and for the Ministry of the Blue Economy, which oversees the Fisheries Department, to intervene.
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The post Fisheries ‘turf war’ at sea – police, Coast Guard investigate; Federation of Fishers calls for intervention appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Wednesday, July 2, 2025. 9:58 pm CST. By Aaron Humes: Police are investigating a reported aggravated assault at sea over the weekend. According to police,
The post Fisheries ‘turf war’ at sea – police, Coast Guard investigate; Federation of Fishers calls for intervention appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.