why
this female Nassau grouper caught off
the coast of Belize is taking her last
few breaths the survival of this
endangered species an apex predator is
critical to the survival of the coral
reef the Belizean Barrier Reef the
second longest in the world is quietly
being decimated by global warming and
overfishing illegal fishing poses a
major challenge for poor countries like
Belize as they struggle to protect their
natural resources here in Belize City
Julio Moz of the Wildlife Conservation
Society receives a tip from a local
fisherman you know which vessels to go
to
no in the rain ends the tip came from
this place key glory or Emily as it’s
known to Belize ins between December and
March every year during the full moon
the Nassau grouper travel here to spawn
it is one of the most critical spawning
sites for Nassau grouper in the world it
is also a haven for fishermen by the
early 2000s the Nassau grouper was
functionally extinct here with less than
50 fish left not very easy to catch that
it’s been that done for really renowned
conservationist and wildlife filmmaker
richard Foster and his wife carol
documented what Emily was like in the
1980s they were catching them about that
thousand they put him on strings they
drag them back to the camp
behind the reef they put them in big
enclosures and then they were cleaning
them at their leisure and the fisherman
generally they if they’re allowed to
they’ll kill village the last one my
lord Oh Barrow Alice’s in this amateur
video was seized during the recent
arrest of the Honduran fishermen all
these fish were believed to have been
caught in protected marine areas the
fishermen were also caught they were
fined and had their boat confiscated but
for every illegal fishing boat that gets
caught countless more get away part of
the problem is the lack of real-time
intelligence about what’s actually
happening out at sea the Fisheries
Department have tried using drones but
they have had more failed flights than
successful ones to date their drones are
made of styrofoam and do not fly well in
windy and wet conditions they also don’t
have a live feed which means they need
to wait for the drone to come back
safely before they know of any
infractions at at sea
Julio is trying to push the Belizean
government to buy better drones in the
meantime he tags along with the
Fisheries Department on boat patrols in
rough conditions like today it can take
six hours to reach Emily from Belize
City which means that often the illegal
fishermen are no longer there the cost
of the trip in fuel and oil is in the
hundreds of dollars
Rodney Castillo is in charge of
enforcement that is going on he spots a
fishing boat in the protected area as
soon as they spot the police fisheries
boat Rodney sees them tossing a grouper
from their boat I’m 12 we’re going to
water this I put my money to a quick way
to water Rodney scoops and unconscious
grouper out of the sea I can’t go wrong
seven five Nassau grouper this is a mark
this is a way I didn’t find us a grouper
buddies
he boards the vessel and sees that the
rest of the catch is legal yeah but my
mom look at you German remember they
were not Hondurans after all but local
police ins he decides to issue them a
warning
so most of their catch was another
species not as a grouper and so the
officer I was able to use his discretion
and realize that it’s not a targeted
species so give them a verbal warning if
you’re squeamish you might want to turn
away for a minute cleaning the fish
Rodney discovered that this grouper had
a belly filled with the role of the eggs
with a population of just over 10,000
mature individuals left on the planet
this dead grouper could have improved
the chances of her species survival
instead she is transported to a freezer
to be used as evidence in case the
fishermen break the law again
you
this female Nassau grouper caught off
the coast of Belize is taking her last
few breaths the survival of this
endangered species an apex predator is
critical to the survival of the coral
reef the Belizean Barrier Reef the
second longest in the world is quietly
being decimated by global warming and
overfishing illegal fishing poses a
major challenge for poor countries like
Belize as they struggle to protect their
natural resources here in Belize City
Julio Moz of the Wildlife Conservation
Society receives a tip from a local
fisherman you know which vessels to go
to
no in the rain ends the tip came from
this place key glory or Emily as it’s
known to Belize ins between December and
March every year during the full moon
the Nassau grouper travel here to spawn
it is one of the most critical spawning
sites for Nassau grouper in the world it
is also a haven for fishermen by the
early 2000s the Nassau grouper was
functionally extinct here with less than
50 fish left not very easy to catch that
it’s been that done for really renowned
conservationist and wildlife filmmaker
richard Foster and his wife carol
documented what Emily was like in the
1980s they were catching them about that
thousand they put him on strings they
drag them back to the camp
behind the reef they put them in big
enclosures and then they were cleaning
them at their leisure and the fisherman
generally they if they’re allowed to
they’ll kill village the last one my
lord Oh Barrow Alice’s in this amateur
video was seized during the recent
arrest of the Honduran fishermen all
these fish were believed to have been
caught in protected marine areas the
fishermen were also caught they were
fined and had their boat confiscated but
for every illegal fishing boat that gets
caught countless more get away part of
the problem is the lack of real-time
intelligence about what’s actually
happening out at sea the Fisheries
Department have tried using drones but
they have had more failed flights than
successful ones to date their drones are
made of styrofoam and do not fly well in
windy and wet conditions they also don’t
have a live feed which means they need
to wait for the drone to come back
safely before they know of any
infractions at at sea
Julio is trying to push the Belizean
government to buy better drones in the
meantime he tags along with the
Fisheries Department on boat patrols in
rough conditions like today it can take
six hours to reach Emily from Belize
City which means that often the illegal
fishermen are no longer there the cost
of the trip in fuel and oil is in the
hundreds of dollars
Rodney Castillo is in charge of
enforcement that is going on he spots a
fishing boat in the protected area as
soon as they spot the police fisheries
boat Rodney sees them tossing a grouper
from their boat I’m 12 we’re going to
water this I put my money to a quick way
to water Rodney scoops and unconscious
grouper out of the sea I can’t go wrong
seven five Nassau grouper this is a mark
this is a way I didn’t find us a grouper
buddies
he boards the vessel and sees that the
rest of the catch is legal yeah but my
mom look at you German remember they
were not Hondurans after all but local
police ins he decides to issue them a
warning
so most of their catch was another
species not as a grouper and so the
officer I was able to use his discretion
and realize that it’s not a targeted
species so give them a verbal warning if
you’re squeamish you might want to turn
away for a minute cleaning the fish
Rodney discovered that this grouper had
a belly filled with the role of the eggs
with a population of just over 10,000
mature individuals left on the planet
this dead grouper could have improved
the chances of her species survival
instead she is transported to a freezer
to be used as evidence in case the
fishermen break the law again
you
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