Analysis of the Data Collected Between the Years 2009-2012 of the Fisheries Assessment Study

The reserve is a critical area for commercially important species, including conch, lobster, and finfish. In 2007, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), in collaboration with Louisiana State University and TIDE, developed a methodology for assessing commercially important species in the PHMR. Data collection for the assessment commenced in 2009 and includes both fisheries-dependent and fisheries-independent surveys. The methodology has been modified and improved over the years to adapt to changes in legislation, such as the implementation of Managed Access in 2011 in the PHMR. The goal of the assessment is to determine the stock levels of commercial species and enable sustainable catch quotas to be determined for PHMR. Population density and size data for commercial species are compared using Ocean Data View and size frequency distribution curves to improve understanding of the complex relationships between fish, fishing, and the environment. Both lobster and conch showed signs of overexploitation before the implementation of Managed Access, with overall slight improvement after Managed Access began. However, additional data is needed to confirm Managed Access as a driver of improvement. The analysis suggests that an increase in the size of no-take zones to one contiguous area encompassing the Snake Cayes could further improve the fishery by reducing illegal extraction, increasing reproduction, protecting nursery grounds, and maximizing replenishment of the general use zone via spillover. Other management recommendations include changing the legal definition minimum size conch from being a length-based to a lip thickness-based limit as a result of the rapidly decreasing overall maturity and fecundity of conch stocks. TIDE is currently working with the Government of Belize to improve the fishery in PHMR by expanding the no-take zone. The analysis has been critical to highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the zonation, the fisheries assessment, and the Managed Access programs. The data analysis also suggests that an increase in the size of no-take zones to one contiguous area encompassing the Snake Cayes could further improve the fishery by reducing illegal extraction, increasing reproduction, protecting nursery grounds, and maximizing replenishment of the general use zone via spillover. The Belize Fisheries Department (BFD), in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), under the Sustainable Fisheries Initiative (SFI) in Belize, is implementing Managed Access as a pilot program in PHMR and Glover's Reef Marine Reserve (GRMR) as a first step towards the implementation of Catch Shares as a national fisheries management policy for Belize. After two years, if deemed successful, Managed Access will be considered for implementation in other marine reserves in Belize, with a long-term plan to apply this management approach to the entire territorial waters of the country, effectively ending open-access fisheries in Belize. TIDE has been conducting ongoing coral and reef fish monitoring, which provides further invaluable information on the impacts of fishing and other anthropogenic activities on coral reefs and reef fish, as well as natural phenomena affecting the distribution and demographics of multiple species. TIDE has also been consistently conducting underwater conch and lobster surveys of uncaught stock since 2009 to the present, providing information on population density/abundance, size, maturity, and gender ratio of the two most important commercial species – lobster and conch. The aim of the fisheries assessment is to inform adaptive management of Managed Access and to improve understanding of the complex relationships between fish, fishing, and the environment. The combined analysis and reporting of TIDE's fish stock assessment, coral reef and reef fish monitoring surveys, and underwater conch and lobster surveys is necessary to inform the effectiveness and adaptive design of Managed Access.