Since our news team started making frequent trips to the Sarstoon last year, we've been encountering illegal fishing in Belizean territorial waters. Those living in PG and Barranco say that it has been happening for years, and over time, it has only gotten more widespread.
When the Government officials broke ground for the Joint Forces Forward Operating in December of last year, we asked National Security Minister John Saldivar about it. He said that there would be enforcement against that sort of thing as soon as the Base was opened.
Well, we went back to the Sarstoon twice last week and on Friday, we saw illegal fishers doing their thing as though nothing had changed. Today, Daniel Ortiz took a closer look at Friday's encounter, and here's his story:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
Back in August of last year, we encountered Guatemalan fishermen in Belizean territorial seas between the Sarstoon and Barranco.
They were well aware of the illegality of their actions, and fearing that we were Belizean law enforcement, the minute they spotted us coming, they fled as fast as they could.
That was the first time that we saw the mass poaching from numerous fishermen in Belizean waters, and as you would remember, we tried to approach them.
FILE: August 25, 2015
Wil Maheia - Leader, Belize Territorial Volunteers
"It was close to 50 of them hiding in their right now, clusters. See there is a cluster there, and there and there. They can't dispute this. The river is behind me, south of me - Sarstoon River. We are north of Sarstoon. There is no way that we are even close to being into Guatemalan territory. The thing is that we need to protect our natural resources. We need to enforce our laws. If anybody in PG, or any part of Belize set a net like this at any river mouth, they will be arrested. Why is it that the Guatemalans cannot be arrested for these kinds of gill nets? Belizeans get arrested on a daily basis, so why can't the Guatemalans. That's my big fight here."
That led to this very comical image of me trying get to land to speak to them, and at the end of all that, the fishermen hid in the mangroves and refused to talk with us.
But, last Friday, we met a female Guatemalan Fisherman who was friendly, and willing to talk freely about her experience while operating in the Belize side of the Caribbean Sea.
She lives on the Guatemalan side of the Sarstoon River, and in her interview with us, she was very forthcoming:
Yanina Chacos - Sarstoon Fisherman
"We don't have licenses. We just get permission from the Belizean soldiers there. The agreement that we have with them is that we need to give them cooked fish to eat so that we can fish on the Belizean side. Only calbitas and lisetas, sometimes 15 pounds of fish a day. We always respect the rules of Belize and the rules of Guatemala also."
But is she really? 28 year-old Yanina Chacos has a young daughter to feed, but what she's doing, if one enforces the laws strictly, is not allowed. If you bend the rules for one, you might as well allow it for all because everyone has a story.
So, will the Belize law enforcement crack down on the activity? They now have a Joint Forces Forward Operating Base at the mouth of the Sarstoon from which they can launch operations with the Fisheries Department. Given the climate of heightened tensions, it might be a while more.
Reporter
"Sir why is it that Guatemala can actively assert its sovereignty by keeping Belizeans out of the Sarstoon, but Belizeans cannot assert their sovereignty by keeping Guatemalans out of our waters? How is that fair?"
General David Jones - Commander, BDF
"Well as I've said before, it's an area of dispute. They have their military there and we believe that if we try to do that, there is going to be conflict. Of course it is not fair to our Belizeans, but we are just asking our Belizeans to give us the opportunity to work out a protocol where it will be best for both countries. It is a disputed area, if we start to aggravate any nationals who go in there, it is best that we work together with the Guatemalans in there and that's what we are trying to achieve."
Admiral John Borland - Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"We will commence operations very shortly along with the BDF I think on the next change over. We are working out the protocols of how we'll be operating down there. Once that happens, the coast guard will be enforcing Belizeans laws, maritime laws in our area of responsibility, which I will repeat to you. For the coast guard's sake, does not include the Sarstoon, but everything along the coast north of the Sarstoon."
Border activist Wil Maheia tells us that he's been there every day since the base opened, and the fishing continues unabated.
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