Belize is set to nearly triple the size of marine protected areas where fishing is banned, greatly expanding a years-long effort to reverse the effects of overfishing and defend biodiversity on the Belize Barrier Reef, the world’s second-largest barrier reef.

Under a plan approved in April by the Belizean Cabinet, replenishment zones, known as “no-take” zones, will cover nearly 12% of Belizean waters, up from 4.5% today.

The move forms part of a series of marine-conservation initiatives aimed at protecting dozens of reef-fish species and valuable stocks of queen conch (Lobatus gigas or Strombus gigas) and spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) depleted by overfishing. The efforts, including the introduction three years ago of a national fishing-rights program and regulations that outlaw offshore oil exploration, have turned the small, Central American country into a model for fisheries management, experts say.

Doug Rader, chief ocean scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, which is supporting fisheries-management initiatives in Belize, says the country is the first nation to decide to “go all in” on a management strategy that combines limiting fishing by geographical area, and allocating fishing rights for specific areas to specific fishers. In his view, it’s a winning strategy that could be used in other developing countries. Says Rader: “I’ve come to think of it as the secret sauce for the tropics.”

Dramatic expansion
The plan adds 241,000 hectares (931 sq. miles) of no-take zones to an existing patchwork, bringing the total no-take area to nearly 400,000 hectares (1,544 sq. miles). The new zones are close to reefs that stretch north-south off Belize’s coast in waters 200 meters to 3,000 meters deep, and as far as 80 kilometers (50 miles) from shore. These reefs form the Belize Barrier Reef, which ranks second in the world in size behind Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

Nicole Auil Gomez, Belize country director for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which helped lead the expansion process, says numerous factors influenced the location and size of the no-take zones. These factors include habitat; flora and fauna; the economic or cultural importance of a given spot to local fishers; and threats to the zone from such pressures as pollution, shipping, coastal development and climate change. The plan’s steering group included representatives of the Belize Fisheries Department, fishers, conservation groups and the Belize Coast Guard.

The new zones will incorporate a range of habitats, including coral reef; open sea; sea grass; sparse algae and sand; and mangrove and littoral forest. The aim is for the zones to cover 10% of each habitat type in Belize’s waters, Auil says. A map of habitats was overlain with biological data on features and conditions such as turtle-nesting sites, spawning-aggregation sites, areas of live coral cover, herbivore density and the presence of fleshy macro algae, or seaweed. Experts say the new zones will shelter fish across their whole life cycle, from spawning and nursery grounds to maturity.

Julie Robinson, Belize Oceans Manager with The Nature Conservancy, which helped lead the process of identifying new no-take zones, believes that involving fishers in the process of selecting no-take zones means they are more likely to respect them. “All the relevant stakeholders were at the table,” she says. “We wanted to be sure that the fishers who are using those areas were the ones to be consulted.”

Insights from fishers
Fishers helped define the zones, identifying spawning grounds and arguing to keep a fishing ground open because it was the only place they could fish during a cold front. They pointed out a bank near Gladden Spit, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Belize’s Stann Creek District, says Robinson, as a once-strong fishery that might recover as a no-take zone.

Even with the fishers’ support, policing the new no-take zones will be tough, conservationists note. “With limited resources both for government and the NGOs, one of the greatest challenges is sufficient resources to be able to enforce all of our waters,” Robinson says.

Robinson says a program launched in 2016, under which fishers may acquire the right to fish in up to two of eight designated zones, has been a “mixed bag.” Fishers have proven to be effective stewards of the zones, reporting boats fishing in waters where they do not have rights, she says. But loopholes and corruption have allowed some fishers to gain rights in areas they did not traditionally fish, thus overcrowding more lucrative fishing grounds.

Another problem, notes Auil, is that fishers from Honduras and Guatemala—both countries with rampant crime—use Belizean waters and are not responsive to pressure from the country’s fishers. And defining the zones is just the beginning. Authorities and communities will need to maintain enforcement, and conservationists must collect data to demonstrate the impact of fishing bans. Says Auil: “It’s very exciting that we got the approval of government, but we’re still not finished. Our mission is to have meaningful protected areas, and have them show impact to biodiversity.”