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(Dr. Callum Roberts of the
Environment Department at the University of York was the
initial recipient of a grant by the UK Darwin Initiative fund to work with the Belize
Department of Fisheries, conservation organisations and local communities on
conservation strategies for migratory species such as the threatened whale
shark.)
Rachel's
work has assessed how
marine reserves could be better designed and managed to protect
the whale shark has provided much-needed new information on the population, ecology,
movements and behaviour of whale sharks, including the
large seasonal grouping of whale sharks on the southern Belize Barrier Reef.
In Belize and the Caribbean,
some believe that gatherings of whale sharks are
threatened by the rapidly-growing, but as yet unregulated, whale shark tourism, and also
by potential commercial over-exploitation of their food sources by fishermen.
Conversely, local fishermen believe
that the whale sharks in the Placencia area have greatly increased in number
because their other Caribbean feeding grounds have been depleted of fish.
Belize has undertaken to protect whale
sharks from the threats of irresponsible tourism by establishing the Gladden Spit Marine
Reserve off the Placencia coast, and enacting
community-based Whale Shark Interaction Regulations.
The Gladden Spit Marine Reserve was officially
established on Thursday, 18 May 2000, with opening ceremonies on the Silk Cayes.
The Reserve consists of a General Use Zone and a
Conservation Zone.
Friends of Nature (FON),
a local environmental/ conservation organization which manages the marine
reserves and parks off the Placencia coast, holds annual meetings to discuss Whale Shark Interaction Regulations with local tour operators and tour guides.
Current
regulations are as follows:
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Dive and snorkel boats will be limited to 1.5
hour time slots, reduced from 2 hours
-
NO CAMERA FLASHES MAY BE USED!!!!!!
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Dive and
snorkel boats must be out of the whale shark zone by 5:00 PM
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Only
6 dive and/or snorkel boats will be
permitted inside the whale shark interaction area.
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Time slots for dive and snorkel boats
are
determined by a public lottery
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Boat captains must attend whale shark
certification courses as well as guides and dive masters
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Dive and snorkel guides must brief tourists on
regulations before entering the whale shark zone
-
Each boat in the whale shark interaction area
may carry a maximum of 12 divers and/or snorkelers (this may be reduced to
8 in the 2010 season)
-
The whale shark conservation fee is US$30 per person for
non-Belizean nationals. (The conservation fee may be increased in the 2010
season.)
-
Whale shark boats must have ratio of at least 1
dive master for every 8 scuba divers and 1 snorkel guide for every 8
snorkelers. If a boat carries a mix of snorkelers and divers, the
tour operator must have a dive master AND a snorkeling guide on-board.
The captain may NOT count as a guide/dive master.
-
Boats carrying whale shark divers and snorkelers
must have a special license at a cost of BZ$100 per
year.
-
A minimum distance of 10 feet must be maintained
between whale sharks and divers/snorkelers.
-
Whale
sharks must be approached by boats at idle speed (not exceeding 10
knots), with idle speed maintained in the vicinity of the sharks
-
Minimum distance between whale sharks and
boats is 50 feet.
-
Persons conducting whale shark tours must have
a valid Belize tour guide license, dive master certification for scuba
diving or skin diver certification for snorkeling.
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Boats used for whale shark tours must be
between 23' and 48' in length
-
Any person violating any whale shark
regulation may be fined up to BZ$2,000 and/or be subject to imprisonment
for up to 6 months. In addition, tour guides are subject to
revocation of their whale shark licenses.
-
In addition to the above sanctions, anyone
intentionally touching a whale shark is subject to a fine of up to
BZ$10,000
-
Also, any person who damages corals is subject
to a fine of up to BZ$10,000 OR value of damage to the coral in an
amount not exceeding BZ$1,000,000
-
Maximum depth
for divers of any certification is 80 feet to avoid disturbing fish
aggregations and for safety considerations
-
All boat must
fly a "divers down" flag when divers from the boat are in the water
Other
regulations:
-
All fishing in an area immediately adjacent to the Silk Cayes (the
Conservation Zone) is catch and release only. No fishing licenses
are as yet required to fish in the any portion of the Reserve, including
the Conservation Zone. Fishermen must report the weight of any
fish caught within the Reserve to upon request by a Reserve ranger.
-
All boats used
for whale shark tours shall carry oxygen, appropriate safety devices for
each snorkeler and diver, radio and lights.
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No fishing
from tour boats in the whale shark zone.
Responsible Whale
Shark Tourism
The regulation requiring dive and snorkel boats to be
out of the whale shark area by 5:00 PM was enacted to prevent interference with
spawning Cubera snappers as much as possible.
The continued presence of the
whale sharks in this area depends on the snappers, so it's not good to
disturb them when they're trying to reproduce. Also, the spawning attracts
sharks OTHER than whale sharks, such as Bull Sharks, Lemon Sharks, Tiger
Sharks, Caribbean Reef Sharks, Nurse Sharks, etc., etc., etc. With the whale
sharks and other sharks trying to feed and the snapper trying to spawn,
there's too much going on out there for diving/snorkeling at that time to be completely
safe. Plus, diving at that time could interfere with the Cubera
Snapper spawning, resulting in NO whale sharks.
Park rangers are at Gladden Spit. However, they are simply not
equipped to deal with dive and snorkel operators who won't voluntarily comply with what
the park rangers are trying to get them to do.
So, please, be a responsible diver. or snorkeler. DON'T go with a shop that takes you out
to dive or snorkel late in the day. And, if you inadvertently do, or
see a diving or snorkeling
operator who does, PLEASE report them IN WRITING to the Placencia Tourist
Center, or email the Tourist Center at
placencia@btl.net
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