More than 1,000 feet of illegal gillnet has been removed from open waters near the Temash-Sarstoon area in southern Belize, according to PGTV.
PGTV reports that the Fisheries Department carried out a targeted night operation after reports about illegal fishing activity south of Punta Gorda. Officers located and retrieved the net, which had been deployed in open waters.
Gillnets are illegal in Belize. The government banned their use and possession in November 2020 under Statutory Instrument 158, the Fisheries Resources (Gill Net Prohibition) Regulations. The ban covers Belize’s territorial sea, Exclusive Economic Zone and internal waters. In 2023, Oceana Belize’s vice president, Janelle Chanona, said offenders face a fine of up to $5,000, six months in prison, or both.
PGTV says residents and community members have praised the Fisheries Department for its quick response and its work protecting Belize’s waters and marine resources.
Authorities are asking the public to keep reporting illegal activity to help protect local fisheries.
The southern waters have been a recurring problem. Earlier this year, Coast Guard Commandant Rear Admiral Elton Bennett told News 5 that the area remains a hotspot for illegal gillnet use, with nets found around Sarstoon, Barranco and Hunting Caye. He said officials believe the nets belong to Guatemalan fishermen because they were found very close to Guatemala, but no one was in the area when they were found. “No one was in the areas, so we can’t confirm,” Bennett said.
In July 2025, the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) said Guatemalan and Honduran fishers use gillnets, long lines and night fishing in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve. TIDE said the Coast Guard had removed more than 15,000 feet of gillnet, roughly 100 nets, from the area that year.
Oceana Belize calls gillnets “walls of death.” The nets trap animals they were not meant to catch, including manatees, turtles and sharks, and those animals can suffocate. The ban was passed after a two-year process that included a transition programme for licensed Belizean gillnet fishers, who surrendered their nets in return for support.
