For the past year and a half, the Sarstoon River, and the coastline of Toledo have been the focus of much controversy and a chronic sore point for Belize Guatemala relations. We’ve shown you how the Belize Territorial Volunteers have had numerous confrontations with the Guatemalan Navy, based at the Mouth of the Sarstoon.
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We also showed you how for the past 11 years, the BDF patrol, which uses Belize’s side of the River to make trips to the Cadenas Observation Post, has been subjected to harassment by the Guatemalan armed forces. There were talks earlier this year for a protocol to de-escalate tensions, and those negotiations have all but stalled.
Recently, we showed you how a SATTIM conservation patrol was stopped by Guat. military, telling them that the Sarstoon is a military zone. So, despite the Government’s insistence that Belizeans still own half of the Sarstoon River, it appears that Guatemala has been exerting some measure of control over it.
Well tonight, it appears they’re starting to push farther north, and their fisheries regulations now say that Belizean territorial waters off the coast of Toledo are open to their nationals to fish as they please. That’s right, you’ll remember all those illegal fishermen we showed you who were using Belizean coast line to conduct illegal fishing just south of Barranco Village, all the way up to Belize’s side of the Sarstoon River? Well, Guatemalan fisheries regulations recognize this as legal, while Belizean fisheries regulations say that it is wholly illegal.
Documents we’ve seen are for the new Guatemalan Fisheries Regulations. It’s accompanied by a map which demarcates Territorial waters between Belize and Guatemala. It is split into 3 zones, but the portion that is causing the most alarm is Zone 1. Seen here, it says that Zone one starts at Punta Gorda Town, which is in Belizean territory, all the way to CocolÃ.
Here in the map it spells it out, “Zone 1: from Cocoli to Punta Gorda in the direction of Rio Sarstun.†All that is Certainly Belizean territorial waters, but Guatemala is now claiming it as part of their fisheries zone.
Other portions of the document will certainly have marine conservationists cringing. It talks about gillnet fishing, which Oceana and other southern fishing organizations, and even the Coast Guard wants the government to ban.
The document is labelled, “Fisheries Regulatory Departmentâ€.
The top paragraph reads, in part, “The vessels using gillnet and trawl net for catching shrimp will alternate the fishing zones…Those who use gill net can only perform their tasks in fishing zone number three (3) and vice versa.
Article 44 Stone basses. “In stone bass fishing with gill net can only be done at night….
Article 45 says,
“From the imaginary dividing line established to mark the boundary of the fishing zone, the fishers should leave 250 meters on each side, as a no-harvest zone (where no fishing can be done). Similarly, they would have to leave 100 meters from the shore of the beach [as a no-harvest zone]. The anchovy fishers will be able to operate in the fishing zones used by Garifuna fishers.â€
It’s all very worrying, especially since now that it is in the official regulations.
This afternoon, we spoke with Brigadier General David Jones, the commander of the BDF, whose soldiers are posted at the Joint Forces Forward Operating Base – which now falls into one of those zones. He was completely stunned to find out about these regulations:
Brig. Gen David Jones - Commander, BDF
"I am sorry I have not heard about that, this is the first time I'm hearing that, that doesn't sound right. That will not go down well I'm speechless about that, I have just heard about that but that is not right and I'll have to speak to Ministry of Defence if they've heard about it as what steps we're going to take to do something about it."
Daniel Ortiz
"Sir does that in your mind is cause for worry maybe that the directorate of Guatemala is not taking the same sort of stance as maybe your counter parts in the army who are working towards more cordial relations?"
Brig. Gen David Jones - Commander, BDF
"Well that will be troubling if it is true, assuming it is true but it will not go down well internationally if that's a stance they have taken. We do have a diplomatic problem with them and if that is so true our foreign affairs I suspect will have to deal with it immediately and that needs to transcend to the Ministry of Defence as to what we're going to do about it because it's a national security issue. This is our country and they shouldn't be that close in our territory waters."
Daniel Ortiz
"Now sir this particular situation we've seen documents which show this zoning and it clearly demarcates from Punta Gorda Town all the way -- the coast line of Belize all the way down to Sarstoon. We have seen where they say that this location is supposedly a military zone. Can one not take the interpretation that this is simply following through on what they have posited declared?"
Brig. Gen David Jones - Commander, BDF
"Well if you had listened to the Guatemalan President's speech after he took office you would see he did mention to the people of Guatemala that they are interested in taking back Belize. It would not be surprising for them to try to implement measures but it's going to be shocking if he does. It's not logical for you to do something like that with your neighbour. I'm not presented with those information if they are facts, I don't want to comment on them if they are not factual but if I am presented with information then I'll be able to comment further on it but I'm not aware of it at this time."
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