Projects

1. Building the Capacity of Fishermen Associations for Involvement in Community Management of Port Honduras Marine Reserve (PHMR), Belize.

TIDE co-manages PHMR in close consultation and collaboration with stakeholder communities in the Toledo region of Southern Belize. These communities have initiated efforts to develop fisherman associations to improve their ability to take decisions, advocate policy, and interact with government and NGOs.

These associations will be powerful agents of change once equipped with strategic plans and organizational capacity. This initiative will enable TIDE and its partners to work with these communities in developing their capacity and resources so that their associations can play an active, long-term role in the management of Port Honduras Marine Reserve's resources.

2. Enforcement of fishing regulations in the Gulf of Honduras. Phase II, Guatemala.

Within the Gulf of Honduras (GoH), particularly in Honduras and Guatemala, the fishing resources are being over exploited. For this reason, it is necessary to implement planning measures to promote conservation and sustainable use of the resources. This is why the main objective of this project is to support the voluntary enforcement of fishing regulations by fishermen and sea food buyers within the GoH. Some of the planned activities to achieve this goal are: organize Tri national Network meetings to develop and adopt a fishing Code of Conduct for the GoH; develop material (flags, banners and posters) that promote the no-take seasons and prohibited species,  to be posted in decks and restaurants; and support the patrols developed by the authorities.

3.  Sustainable exploitation of Queen Conch and Spiny lobster in Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve and Xcalak Reef National Park, Mexico.

The project aims to fight against the main threat for the Queen Conch and the Spiny lobster fisheries within the Reserve: illegal fishing. Recognizing that the extraction is related to the market demand, two basic activities will be developed: surveillance patrols, and to continue the diffusion campaign promoting the conservation of Queen Conch and Spiny lobster in order to reduce its consumption.

4. Optimization of the sustainable use, artisanal innovation, and alternatives for the co-management and use of the collective lobster brand: “Chakay from Banco Chinchorro y Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserves”. Mexico.

The fishing cooperatives will consolidate a fair market to obtain the aggregated value that recognizes the sustainable capture measures used through the collective lobster brand “Chakay”, that are now well known by buyers (hotels and restaurants) and consumers.  

The objective of this project is to optimize the sustainable use of “Chakay” without increasing the fishing efforts, through experience and technology transfer among associated cooperatives.

5. Restocking the Cayo Centro zone with Queen conch (Strombus gigas) to be managed by the Banco Chinchorro fishing community, Mexico.

The objective of the project is to continue with the restocking of the Cayo Centro area in Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve with Queen Conch individuals. In January, 2009, three thousand individuals of Queen Conch were restocked and obtained good results. This project aims to relocate seven thousand more individuals from other areas where these are at risk of being exploited by illegal fishing, to the selected areas where they will be protected and managed by the fishing communities.