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Quick Facts:
- % Contribution to GDP: 7.2 (2001)
- Fishing Area: EEZ (169840 km2); Shelf (9800 km2)
- Fishermen: 3000-4000 (about 60% belong to fishermen's cooperatives)
- Landing sites: 11
- Fish Imports: 75 MT/0.096 US $ M (2001)
- Fish Exports: 518 MT/9.0 US$ M (2001)
- Fish vendors/hawkers: 50
- Fish processors: 2 (Northern and National Fishermen's Cooperatives)
- Importers: 3 or 4 (Est.)
- Exporters: 10
Notes:
- The shelf area is a complex system consisting of the largest barrier reef in the Atlantic (220 m in length), three
offshore atolls- (Lighthouse Reef which contains the Blue Hole, the Turneffe Islands and Glovers Reef), patch reefs,
seagrass beds, several hundred cayes of sand and mangrove, extensive mangrove forests, coastal lagoons and estuaries.
Total area fished is estimated to be about 4700 km2 within a depth range of 1.5-10 m2.
- Note: The composition of the fishing fleet refers to active commercial fishing vessels, as opposed to subsistence
fishing. Open boats are made of either wood or fibreglass, 4.3-7.6 m in length, propelled by outboard engines
primarily for lobster trapping. Sloops are mostly wooden vessels up to 10 m in length, equipped with sails and
smaller auxiliary outboard engines primarily for free diving for lobster, conch and occasionally finfish. Large
dug-out canoes are used in southern regions, and are equipped with small engines and oars, primarily for fishing
finfish using handlines or nets. Foreign shrimp trawlers of the standard Mexican Gulf type operate as joint ventures
with fishing cooperatives.
- Major landing sites (from North to South) are located at Corozal Town, Belize City, San Pedro on Ambergris Cay,
Caye Caulker, Danriga, Placencia and Punta Gorda.
- Shrimp mariculture accounted for approximately US$6.0 M and 2,000 MT in 1995 which was more than the total landed
value of all fisheries combined.
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