Belize Puts Complete Ban on Bottom Trawling

Bottom trawling is an extremely destructive industrial fishing practice. Belize has now become one of the first countries, and perhaps the most significant country, to ban bottom trawling.

Earlier this month the fisheries minister of Belize announced that all forms of trawling will be banned in Belize effective December 31, 2010.

Oceana, especially Oceana’s vice president for Belize, Audrey Matura-Shepherd, led the push to get bottom trawling banned, opening an office in Belize to tackle this matter last year. Additionally, UNESCO has been putting a lot of pressure on the country to change fishing practices there. It threatened to take the Belize Barrier Reef System of its World Heritage Site status.

Read more on this story over on our sister site Ecolocalizer: Good News in Belize: Bottom Trawling Now Banned

Photo Credit: AJ Baxter

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