- Endangered Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) and other shark species are making a striking recovery in Belize after plummeting due to overfishing between 2009 and 2019, according to recent observations.
- Experts say the establishment of no-shark-fishing zones around Belize’s three atolls in 2021 is what enabled the population boom.
- A remarkable cooperation and synergy among shark fishers, marine scientists and management authorities gave rise to the shark safe havens and led to their success, experts say.
Rosie knows the Lighthouse Reef Atoll like the back of her fin. She calls this atoll home and is a matriarch of the thriving population of Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) living there.
Her signature scar on her dorsal fin makes her easy to identify each year during monitoring surveys conducted by MarAlliance, a U.S.-based nonprofit that is also registered in Belize. Kirah Forman-Castillo, national coordinator of the group’s Belize program, reported that fishers are observing a flourishing of sharks in the country’s waters.
“As we talk to fishers, they are having the same experiences: increased numbers of sharks,” Forman-Castillo said. “They are seeing more and more; they are seeing them in the back reef and in areas where they never saw sharks before.”
This constitutes a striking recovery across various shark species after a period of decline from 2009 to 2019. And it arose from a remarkable synergy among shark fishers, marine scientists and management authorities who together implemented restrictions to protect the megafauna across Belize’s three atolls, according to experts Mongabay spoke to for this story.
Shark fishers’ acceptance
The Caribbean reef shark is the most fished shark species in Belize. Globally, it’s classified as endangered due largely to overfishing and the degradation of coral reefs throughout its range.
A study published in 2022 based on video footage collected at underwater stations estimated a decline in relative abundance in the reef shark population in a Belizean marine protected area between 2009 and 2019. The authors posited the decline was due to legal and illegal shark fishing in the area. Nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum), which are nationally protected, remained stable over the same period, the study found.
“We showed this data and the Fisheries Department wanted to do something because it is an important species, and the fishers wanted to do something because obviously they don’t want to see their livelihood go away,” Demian Chapman, a shark expert at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Florida and a co-author of the study, told Mongabay.
In 2021, the National Shark Working Group, comprising representatives from the Belize Fisheries Department and tourism ministry, community organizations, scientists and fisherfolk, recommended no-take zones for sharks extending 2 nautical miles (3.7 kilometers or 2.3 miles) around each of Belize’s three atolls: Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Glover’s Reef Atoll and Turneffe Atoll. These are the reef sharks’ known home ranges and mating grounds. A regulation establishing these safe havens, totaling 3,885 square kilometers (1,500 square miles), soon followed.
“The cool thing is, the fishers were interested in this — it was going to affect their livelihood — so what we did is that we obtained funding from various sources to hire the fishers to do research,” Chapman said.
Since 2009, fisherfolk had taken scientists out as chartered boat captains and citizen scientists, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they took on the research work independently.
“During COVID, the scientists from elsewhere couldn’t come so we would sort of train shark fishers on how to do some of the stuff, and they sort of took over doing the science,” Chapman said.” When we resumed coming back, they were more independent with doing the science, which was great,” he said.
The Belize-based nonprofit Fishers4Science has been integral in this collaborative work.
“It’s nice to work with fisherfolk because they have generational knowledge,” Jessica Quinlan, the group’s leader, told Mongabay. “They have years and years of knowledge that they are open and willing to share with us, and it’s given us a bit of a jump-start”
The observations and data contributed by Fishers4Science played a vital role in establishing the 2-nautical-mile no-take zones around the atolls to aid reef shark recovery. While the passage of the measure establishing the zones, called the statutory instrument or SI, is significant, its acceptance from shark fishers before it took force created the atmosphere necessary for its success.
“Even though the SI didn’t pass until 2021, we had a handshake deal with the fisherfolk that, alright, we’re gonna start this now, we’re gonna pay you now, and the SI is not passed, but could you please stay out of these places,” Chapman said. “And they said yes. And of course, they could have gone back on their word, but I don’t believe they did.”
Kenneth Esquivel, head of the Fisheries Department’s Capture Fisheries Unit, also attributed success to the close collaboration with fisherfolk, who act as on-the-water enforcers. The department values this management and enforcement model, Esquivel told Mongabay.
“In terms of enforcement, the fisherfolk does enforcement. In terms of reporting any illegal activities in the area, because of the small group that they are, they know who all the shark fishers are, so if they see somebody having sharks that don’t have shark [fishing] licenses, they report it to the department and we send out our enforcement officers,” he said.
This fishery supplies meat for domestic consumption and meat and fins to a small but growing export market.
Hector Martinez is a shark fisher based in Riversdale village in southeastern Belize’s Stann Creek District who sits on the National Shark Working Group. He works closely with Chapman and Fishers4Science to tag sharks for research purposes and other activities. Martinez said he believes the collaborative work inherently protects the sharks and has fostered the recovery.
“Every day that shark fishers are out on the water, not catching sharks and instead doing research, is a day you might be saving 100 sharks,” he told Mongabay. “There is no law, no regulation, nothing that you can put in place that would have that effect.”
Recovery
Caribbean reef shark populations have rebounded beyond previous levels, more than tripling at both Turneffe and Lighthouse atolls, according to Forman-Castillo of MarAlliance. The organization has done continuous monitoring at Lighthouse Reef since 2007, its executive director, Rachel Graham, told local media in 2022.
Chapman said his team likewise saw an increase in recent survey data from Glover’s Reef and Turneffe atolls. “That aligned with the SI doing what it was intended to do,” he said. “So overall, the survey is looking positive for Caribbean reef sharks.”
The 2021 SI and other measures like a 2020 ban on the use of gill nets have driven the reef shark recovery in Belize, Forman-Castillo said. “It’s a combination of things,” she said. “The ban, increased enforcement within these atolls, the management agencies on the ground and those co-managing.”
Quinlan of Fishers4Science said the timing was right to see positive effects from the SI. “Sharks take a while to mature and reproduce, so you don’t see the effects immediately,” she said. “We’re getting to a point now, about five years out, where it makes sense that we are seeing what we are seeing because there is a delay.”
Looking ahead, a key challenge is figuring out how to balance the increase of sharks with a decrease of commercial fish species that MarAlliance and other NGOs are now observing, Forman-Castillo said. It’s important both to secure the health of the ecosystem and to ensure fishers can make a living without resorting to overfishing sharks.
“We’re building up the top of the food chain, so we now need to work on securing the bottom of the food chain,” she added.
Chapman and the other sources Mongabay consulted for this story underscored the importance of maintaining the scientific collaborations and cooperative relationships to keep momentum going.
“When people get together and agree there is a problem, and then debate what to do about it, then come up with an agreement on how to deal with it, then deal with it — that’s how things should work in my view,” Chapman shared.
“That’s what I think happened: The shark community of Belize — the fishers, the scientists, the tourism sector and the government — we’re all on the same page and accepting these things.”
Banner image: A Caribbean reef shark. Image courtesy of Pete Oxford/MarAlliance.
Clarification 3/13/25: This story has been updated to reflect that facts that MarAlliance is registered in Belize and that Demian Chapman’s primary affiliation is with Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Florida.
Belize shows how fishers and researchers can collaborate to protect sharks
Citation:
Flowers, K., Babcock, E., Papastamatiou, Y., Bond, M., Lamb, N., Miranda, A., … Chapman, D. (2022). Varying reef shark abundance trends inside a marine reserve: Evidence of a Caribbean reef shark decline. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 683, 97-107. doi:10.3354/meps13954
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