Belize’s Fisheries Regulations Include

• Coral – it is prohibited to buy, sell, or have in possession any type of Coral except the Black Coral without a license.
• Bonefish (Albula vulpes) – no buying or selling.
• Conch (Strombus gigas) – Closed season is July 1st to September 30th. Market Clean weight must exceed 3 ounces, and shell length must exceed 7 inches. Fillet conch must weigh 2.75 ounces or more. No fisherman should possess diced conch.
• Lobster (Panulirus argus) – Closed Season is from February 15th to June 14th. Minimum cape length is 3 inches, and minimum tail weight is 4 ounces.
• Marine Turtle – It is prohibited to interfere with any turtle nest, or take any marine turtles. It is an offense to possess any articles made from turtle shell.
• Parrot Fish – Since 2009 no harvesting of parrot fish.
• Nassau Grouper – Closed season is December 1st to March 31st. Minimum size shall be 20 inches with maximum size of 30 inches. All Nassau groupers must be landed whole. No fishing is allowed with SCUBA gear.
• Spearfishing – is prohibited in all marine reserves.

It is also illegal to import or bring aboard the yacht any item during the closed season.

When doing beach BBQ please don’t cook any item for which the season is closed. Lobster tails is the item which mostly affects the yachts.  Lobster season is closed from 15th February through to 14th June, which is when the yachts are usually visiting.

We had an incident in 2012 when a yacht had a beach BBQ on Laughing Bird Caye and they had cooked some lobster tails.  The warden on the island called up the authorities in Placencia and upon the yachts arrival (with guests on board) all their freezers and refrigerators were emptied looking for any items which were out of season.