Griffith, V.

Mata, T.

Ortega, G.

Samuels, D.

Waddell, K.

Aquatic Commons

Interchange of Experiences between Fishers of Antigua, Barbuda, Venezuela, Belize and Mexico 
 
DALSTON SAMUELS1, TORIBIO MATA2, GERNAN ORTEGA2, VERNON GRIFFITH3  , AND KIM WADDELL4 
 
1  Fisher – St. John’s Antigua, West Indies 
2  Fisher – Archipelago Los Roques National Park, Venezuela 
3  Fisher – Codrington Village Barbuda, West Indies 
4 Geography Department, Eller O&M Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas  77843-3147 USA 
 
ABSTRACT 
 
We describe the experiences and lessons learned from our joint trip to fishing communities and marine protected areas in Be-
lize and Mexico, from 30 May to 9 June 2007.  We visited fishing cooperatives in Punta Allen (Mexico) and Belize City (Belize).  
We visited the marine reserves of Hol Chan, Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes, and Laughing Bird Cay National Park, in Belize, as well 
as the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, in Mexico.  We witnessed snapper spawning and whale shark aggregations at Gladden Spit.   
Along the trip, we stayed in fishing villages, increasing our opportunities to exchange experiences with fishers and their families.  
We observed the design and construction of “casitas” in 5 different locations, which are used for lobster captures.  We learned a 
great deal about the biology and sustainable management of spawning aggregations and spiny lobster.  Also, we met with sport 
fishing guides and visited sport fishing lodges.  Now, we are sharing our experiences with fellow fishermen and marine protected 
areas managers in our home countries.  We are grateful to the United Nations Caribbean Environment Programme (UNEP), who 
funded the trip through a grant called  “Sustainable management of multi-species reef fish spawning aggregations: exchanging fisher 
experiences”.  We were accompanied by Juan M. Posada (Univ. Simón Bolívar and Fundación Científica Los Roques, Venezuela), 
Lindsay Garbutt (Friends of Nature, Belize, and Will Heyman, Texas A&M University, USA), who served as organizers and guides 
through the entire trip. 
 
KEYWORDS:  Sustainable fishing, fisher exchange Belize, Mexico, Antigua, Barbuda, Venezuela 
 
Intercambio de Experiencias entre Pescadores de Antigua, Barbuda, Venezuela, Belize y México 
 
Se describe la experiencia y lecciones aprendidas en nuestro viaje a las comunidades pesqueras y áreas marinas protegidas de 
Belice y México, entre Mayo 30 y Junio 9 de 2007.  Se visitaron cooperativas de pescadores en Punta Allen (México) y la ciudad de 
Belice (Belice).  Igualmente, se visitaron las reservas marinas de Hol Chan, Gladden Spit y Silk Cayes, junto con el Parque Nacional 
Laughing Bird Cay, en Belice, así como la reserva de Biosfera de Sian Ka’an, en México.  En Gladden Spit fuimos testigos de las 
agregaciones de tiburones ballena y pargos, estos últimos en actividad reproductiva.  A lo largo del recorrido permanecimos en villas 
pesqueras, maximizando la oportunidad de intercambiar experiencias con los pescadores y sus familias.  Observamos el diseño y la 
construcción de las conocidas “casitas” en cinco localidades diferentes, las cuales se usan para la captura de langosta.  Aprendimos 
mucho sobre la biología y el manejo sustentable de las agregaciones reproductivas de peces y langosta.  Igualmente, nos reunimos 
con guías de pesca deportivos y visitamos las facilidades desde donde operan.  Ahora compartimos estas experiencias con pescado-
res y oficiales de manejo en las áreas protegidas de nuestros respectivos países.  Agradecemos al Programa Ambiental del Caribe de 
las Naciones Unidas (UNEP, por sus siglas en ingles), quienes financiaron este encuentro a través del proyecto “Manejo sustentable 
de las agregaciones multiespecíficas de peces arrecifales: intercambio de experiencias entre pescadores”.  Durante todo el viaje 
estuvimos acompañados por Juan M. Posada (Univ. Simón Bolívar y Fundación Científica Los Roques, Venezuela), Lindsay Gar-
butt (Amigos de la Naturaleza, Belice) y Will Heyman (Texas A&M University, EEUU), quienes fungieron como organizadores y 
guías.  
 
PALABRAS CLAVES:  Pesca sustentable, intercambio de pescadores, Belice, México, Antigua, Barbuda, Venezuela 
Proceedings of the 60th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute     November 5 - 9, 2007   Punta Cana, Dominican Republic 
INRTODUCTION/ CONCLUSIÓN 
Dalston Samuel spoke on behalf of the other partici-
pating fishers (Toribio Mata, German Ortega, and Vernon 
Griffith) of his experiences on a joint trip to fishing com-
munities and marine protected areas in Belize and Mexico 
that began on May 30th and ended on June 9th 2007.  
He spoke with pride of his 35-year career as an Anti-
guan fisher and how he had become a very efficient 
“natural fish killer” as spear fisher. The 9-day trip to Belize 
and Mexico, which included himself, two fishers from 
Venezuela and a fisher from Barbuda, was organized and 
led by Drs. Will Heyman (Texas A&M University) and 
Juan Posada (Universidad Simón Bolívar). Mr. Samuel 
noted that this trip “changed his entire life and his whole 
outlook for fishing”. 
The trip included visits to a number of Mexican and 
Belizean fishing communities where well-managed fishing 
cooperatives were active and sustainable fishing practices 
were in place. For the visiting fishers like Mr. Samuel, this 
was their first exposure to communities where the diver-
sity, numbers, and size of fishes—in the water as well as 
harvested—all indicated that fishers in these communities 
were successfully managing and protecting their marine 
resources. For Mr. Samuel, this was an enlightening, en-
couraging and empowering experience. The visitors met 
with local fishers who were also active in ecotourism ac-
tivities such as fly-fishing guides and tour boat guides—
activities which allowed the local fishers the opportunity to 
Page 168  60th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute  
 
reduce the financial pressure to fish more frequently. Mr. 
Samuel acknowledged that some alternatives for income 
generation would be a necessity for fishers in Antigua and 
Barbuda if they were ever to be asked to reduce the fishing 
pressure as part of any conservation or sustainability effort. 
He was particularly impressed with Mr. Eloy Cuevas, a 
Belizean Garifuna fisher from Monkey River, Belize who 
was also a highly successful fly fisher guide. Mr. Samuel 
expressed interest in inviting Mr. Cuevas to Antigua as a 
speaker so he can share his experiences and ideas with the 
local fishers.  
The trip also included a dive at Gladden Spit, a well-
known reef spot in a marine protected area in Belize, where 
the visiting fishers witnessed a spawning aggregation of 
snappers as well as the feeding of whale sharks on the fish 
spawn. This was the experience of a lifetime for a diver 
like Mr. Samuel, who like the other visiting fishers, had 
never seen so many large and mature fish at one time. 
Watching local fishers recording the weight and sex of 
every fish taken helped Mr. Samuel see the importance of 
monitoring a resource and saw that fishers can handle 
many of the managing responsibilities that are critical to 
sustainable fishing practices. 
When Mr. Samuel commented about how this experi-
ence changed his life, he spoke of the challenges facing his 
home country of Antigua and Barbuda. These challenges 
included chronic over-fishing, little or no monitoring of the 
fishing grounds by the government or other stakeholders, 
and the common use of nets in sensitive areas with corals. 
He expressed the need for education—experiences like he 
had in Mexico and Belize—so that other fishers can have 
the opportunity to learn from fishers like themselves who 
are successful in managing their resources. He also ac-
knowledged that fishers and scientists must work creatively 
together and help each other in their efforts to reduce the 
global trend of diminishing fish stocks.  


Interchange of experiences between fishers of Antigua, Barbuda, Venezuela, Belize and Mexico

http://aquaticcommons.org/15416/1/gcfi_60-24.pdf

Interchange of experiences between fishers of Antigua, Barbuda, Venezuela, Belize and Mexico

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