On Monday, 29th August 2011, as part of his involvement in the MAR Leadership Program, Environmental Research Institute (University of Belize) Marine Biologist and MAR Leader, Celso Cawich accompanied by University of Belize student volunteers hit the open seas of the Turneffe Atoll to conduct interviews with fishermen. The main focus of the interviews was to identify the diversity of the fishermen population out at Turneffe. During the interviews the fishermen were asked basic questions as it relates to their livelihood, methods of fishing, changes in the fishing scene over time and the fishing areas they most frequent around the Atoll.

Celso and the team surveyed 8 boats and 13 camps and obtained a total of 89 interviews in four days. The majority of the fishermen in sailboats are young men from the northern villages including Chunox, Sarteneja and Copper Bank. The older men from the camps had travelled from Belize City. The data collected from this series of interviews will be compiled and used to inform the completion of a management plan for the Atoll.

View picture of the interview on our Facebook page