Fisherman charged $2,000 for fishing inside a protected marine reserve

Posted: Friday, December 13, 2019. 7:39 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: It is officially unlawful to fish or enter a protected area in Belize under most circumstances, and straying into the Half Moon Caye Natural Monument in the Lighthouse Atoll Range last week will cost a Stann Creek fisher significant money.

Diogenes Gomez of San Juan (Cowpen), Stann Creek District, pleaded guilty to illegal fishing and illegal entry into a natural monument.

On December 4th at 2 a.m., a park ranger patrolling the monument’s waters spotted a man fishing inside the monument in a blue canoe.

The ranger recovered from Gomez’s canoe 78 conchs in shells, 101 unprocessed conchs, and a lobster.

The court fined him $2,000 for each offense and Gomez must pay on April 15th and June 15th respectively, in default 3 months imprisonment.

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