PM Briceño Says Conservation Can Protect Fishers’ Livelihoods

As concerns grow within Belize’s fishing industry over proposed marine protections tied to the Blue Bond agreement, Prime Minister John Briceño is pushing back against claims that conservation could threaten livelihoods.

Fishers and tour operators warn that expanding marine protected areas could limit access to key lobster and conch grounds, putting jobs and coastal economies at risk. But Briceño argues that conservation can actually strengthen the fishing industry.

“If we eat everything we have today, tomorrow we noh have none,” he said, arguing that protected areas allow fish stocks to recover and benefit fishers in the long run.

The Prime Minister pointed to existing marine reserves as proof that conservation and fishing can coexist. He recalled early resistance to the Port of Honduras Marine Reserve, where critics feared losing access. “Listen, the fish grow. And they don’t stay there. Then they go out of that area, and then you could fish. You could get bigger fish, and now people are seeing all the benefits of that,” he said.

He also cited Glover’s Reef, where local guides and fishers actively help protect the reserve. “I was down there, I think it was earlier this year, and one of the guides we were in a boat with. And he was telling us, ‘you see right here? This area we mind this because if you see any boat weh noh belong in this, we call Coast Guard, we call fishing department’…We have bigger fish. We have bigger conch, bigger lobster,” Briceño said.

“We need to sit down and show them the science behind of these decisions,” he added.