After WW2, a man with a Catalina seaplane would fly down to the island, fill it with a few thousand pounds of lobster and fly away to Florida
The lobster industry had developed sufficiently by the late 1940s and 1950s to attract more full-time fishermen. Residents of Ambergris Caye jumped at an alternative to working in the coconut industry.
Before they had freezers in Belize, there were several freezer boat including the Betty Jean that came to Belize to purchase lobster. They would pay 5 cents whole and 7 cents for the tail. the photo above is a Catalina Sea Plane. They called it the flying boat. he would land in front of the town by the municipal pier and would purchase lobster from the fishermen on credit. He would fly to Miami and on his return would pay the fishermen for the last cargo and load up his plane. The last time he was seen was when he took of with 4,000 pounds of lobster, To this date the fishermen have nevver been paid. The Catalina was painted yellow.
In the early 1920s, an American named Stibbs and one Captain R. E. Foote, a Canadian, founded canneries to process lobster tails for export to the US market. The fishermen who sold their lobster tails to Captain Foote received only 1 cent per pound.
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