In the early mornings of the 24 and 25 November, 2012, the 4^thAnnual Blue Water Classic Fishing Tournament participants departed from the marina at Old Belize for a two day event of offshore fishing. This year eleven boats took part in the tournament. Minimum weights accepted in the tournament included: Blue Marlin-100 pounds, White Marlin-30 pounds, Wahoo-15 pounds, Sailfish-30 pounds, Tuna-5 pounds, Dorado-5 pounds, Kingfish-10 pounds, and Barracuda-15 pounds.

At the end of the two days, a total of 2 Blue Marlin, 8-10 Dorado, 1 Kingfish and 10-12 Wahoo were caught. Victorious was the boat “Mad Storme”, captained by Michael Heusner. Other than winning first place overall, Mad Storme also won first place in the Calcutta Category.

Pictures from left to right –  1^st Place winners aboard “Mad Storme” (Left to right: Jessica Heusner, Adrian Heusner, Steve Heusner, Michael Heusner, Salvador Espat)

- Adrian Heusner receiving his trophy for Heaviest Blue Marlin caught- 278 pounds.

- Boat “Miss Marsh” took home second place overall and second place in the Calcutta category.

- Adrian Marshalleck took home the prize for Top Junior Angler with a Blue Marlin catch of 169.50 pounds.

- Boat “Fu Di Road” took home third place overall and third place in the Calcutta category.

- Chendo Urbina won the Heaviest Wahoo Prize with a catch weighing 36 pounds.

- The 2^nd Heaviest Wahoo prize went to Aldo Urbina for his 34 pound catch.

You can read the entire article here:

http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/76708

 Climate Change in the Coastal Zone

 The Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute in partnership with the Natural Capital Project, World Wildlife Fund, Inter-American Development Bank, Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, and The Nature Conservancy is hosting a three-day Caribbean Regional Conference entitled, “Integrating Climate Change Adaptation Planning into Coastal Zone Management using Ecosystem Services”. Presenters and participants are experts from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Columbia, Guatemala, Canada, the United States, and Belize. Participants will discuss practical ways that coastal and island states can adapt to changes in our environment, and how the natural resources can help.

The workshop goals include:

1. Showcasing the Belize Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan as a regional model for sustainable planning.
2. Sharing lessons and innovations across the Caribbean in developing and implementing coastal zone management and climate adaptation plans.
3. Exploring the importance of ecosystem services for decision-making.
4. Presenting practical tools and strategies for addressing climate change and coastal zone management.

The featured speakers include Dr. Wendel Parham, CEO, Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development; Dr. Leonard Nurse, member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Mary Ruckelshaus, Managing Director of the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University; Mr. Ronald Jackson, Director General at Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management; and Mr. Vincent Gillett, CEO, Coastal Zone Management Authority & Institute

The conference is being held from Tuesday, October 9^th to Thursday, October 11^th in the Princess Room of the Princess Hotel and Casino in Belize City.

END

~~ Contact Mrs. Nicole Auil Gomez at the Coastal Zone Management Authority & Institute for additional information. ~~

On August 15, a large manatee was reported in a canal at Vista del Mar, described as being entangled in a net. The Belize Marine Mammal Stranding Network response team, led by Jamal Galves and Nicole Auil Gomez, located the animal and determined that the long white line across the manatee’s back was not a net, but a large boat engine wound.

The manatee was monitored for a week. It appeared thin and the canal has no suitable vegetation, so the team rescued the manatee on August 24. Coastal Zone Management Authority & Institute staff and many volunteers, including BATSUB soldiers, successfully picked up the 10-foot female using Sea to Shore Alliance’s specialized capture boat and gear. She was examined by Dr. Jane Crawford of Animal Medical Centre who determined it has a lung infection likely caused from a possible fractured rib – a result of the boatstrike.

The Belize Coast Guard generously provided a truck and transported the manatee to the Manatee Rehabilitation Centre in Sarteneja, Corozal. Here it will receive around the clock care from Wildtracks and many volunteers.

A second manatee was unintentionally caught with the injured female, but fortunately so as it had a serious fishing line entanglement in its flipper, which could have led to eventual amputation. The line was removed in over an hour, and she was returned to the wild, expected to heal naturally.

The Rehab Center also looks after “Duke”, the juvenile male rescued in Belize City in January. A third manatee, “Twiggy” rescued three years ago, is being prepared for release into the wild. Donations are needed to help feed and care for the two manatees in rehabilitation.

Boaters, please watch for manatees in shallow areas – use slow speed in and around the Belize River. Please continue to report cases of injured, orphaned or dead manatees to 223-5739 / 223-0719.

ICZM Plan Updates:

(i) The team ran two new iterations using InVEST’s habitat risk assessment and four ecosystem service models: recreation, coastal vulnerability, coastal protection, and lobster fishery.

(ii) There was a reconfiguration of the use zones for the “compromise (informed management) future” scenario as a result of ecosystem service model outputs.

(iii) To date, five of eight sections of the national plan are complete. A draft of regional management matrices for nine planning regions has also been prepared.

Natural Capital Partners

1. Ms. Amy Rosenthal and Ms. Kirsten Howard visited our office on July 12-19

Key accomplishments:

• Amy & Kirsten gave a CZMAI Seminar.
• They conducted semi-structured interviews, implemented a questionnaire and analyzed stakeholder participation information in order to get a sense of the overall success and limitations of CZMAI’s stakeholder engagement process. Special focus was given to assess stakeholder’s perceptions of their ability to contribute to policy development for safeguarding benefits from ecosystem services provided by the Belizean coastal zone.
• Twelve stakeholders representing 4 of 9 planning regions participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The survey was closed off on August 17th.  68 people completed the online survey. The randomly chose Facebook winner of the “US-themed mystery prize” is Corey Constantino, a previous intern at CZMAI. Thanks to all of you who participated in the survey in person or online.

o

Mrs. Katie Arkema and Mr. Gregg Verutes visited on July 30-August 3

Key accomplishments:Focusing primarily on the GIS component of the Plan, they worked with the CZMAI team on correcting the accuracy of coastal and marine use zones. They also performed ecosystem service (ES) modeling and used the expertise and experience of other NatCap colleagues to interpret model outputs for informing the (re)configuration of coastal and marine use zones four future scenarios.

• Additional service models are being run i.e. lobster fishery. CZMAI now has the capacity to run habitat risk assessment model and 2 ES models: coastal vulnerability and lobster fishery. We are working on the capacity to run coastal protection and recreation models.
• Finally, novel visualization of map outputs and other supporting information were developed for the ICZM Plan.

We hope to start the next round of public consultations by the end of October. Please contact the CZMAI office for further information at 223-5739 / 0719.

Eighteen national manatee surveys have been carried out since 1977, and the last count was done in 2007. The surveys provide information on distribution and relative abundance, which are applied to management strategies, including the national Coastal Zone Management Plan. The coastline, all rivers, large lagoons, and a sample of cayes were surveyed using standard protocol. A total of 507 manatees were sighted, with 10% of them being calves. This is the highest count recorded for Belize, still known globally to have the greatest number of the endangered Antillean manatee. Some key areas were in and around the Belize River; the river itself had 25 manatees; the Turneffe Atoll had 14 manatees, Placencia Lagoon had 31 individuals, and the Southern Lagoon (Gales Point) had a remarkable 52 animals. The count is a minimum population size, as for every animal seen, others present are missed.

Cetacean aerial surveys were conducted for the first time, and extended between 17 and 50 miles from the coast. The survey team searched for pods of dolphins or whales, such as rough-tooth dolphins, killer whales, pilot whales, and sperm whales which have been seen in Belize’s waters. The observers were thrilled to make two sperm whale sightings at the southern end of the barrier reef, swimming southward towards Honduras. This was not the first recording of sperm whales in Belize, but very little is known of their ecology here.

Other species spotted during the surveys were 33 dolphins, 11 turtles, and four crocodiles. The public is asked to report any known sightings of large dolphins or whales to the CZMAI.

The flights for the surveys were donated by the conservation organization LightHawk. LightHawk has provided flights at no cost to various organizations in Belize for the past 31 years, including most of the CZMAI manatee aerial surveys. In Mesoamerica, from January to June each year, LightHawk volunteer pilots fly missions to enhance regional conservation efforts. In this case, aerial surveys allowed scientists to spot marine mammals to effectively monitor a large area in a short amount of time.

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Please contact Mrs. Nicole Auil Gomez for further information or photos.

Read More

He was chosen for the inaugural 2012-2013 class of “Caribbean Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders” (CEWCL.) Funded in part by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, C-EWCL is an opportunity for up and coming conservation professionals in the Caribbean to gain invaluable skills and experience working with proven conservation leaders. The 12 winners will meet in Antigua this month for an initial training week. During the two-year training program participants will work in teams to develop, implement and evaluate a wildlife conservation project in the Caribbean. Graduates are expected to become future conservation leaders of the Caribbean with the competence necessary to launch well-rounded and successful conservation campaigns.

Additionally, Mr. Galves received an award of Bz$30,000 from the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP). The winning project is titled “Ameliorating Threats to the Manatee in the Heart of Belize”, and Jamal will lead the project with team members Mr. Andre Reneau of Friends of Swallow Caye, and Mr. Samir Rosado and Miss Chantalle Clark both of CZMAI. With a purpose to gather data in an important coastal area to Belizeans, manatees and other species, a threat assessment will be carried out on the Belize River mouth area. This is where the majority of manatee deaths and injuries are observed. Management systems will be proposed to protect the habitat and manatees. Solutions will be established in collaboration with the Coastal Zone Management Authority & Insitute, Friends of Swallow Caye, Sea to Shore Alliance and the Government of Belize. CLP is a partnership of four conservation organizations – BirdLife International, Conservation International, Fauna & Flora International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The mission of CLP is to promote the development of future conservation leaders and provide them with the capacity to address the most significant conservation issues of our time.

21/ 3/12 – The Coastal Zone Management Authority (CZMAI) today hosted 50 kindergarten children at its Training Room for a half day of manatee awareness and fun activities.  The excitement and enthusiasm could be felt (and heard) with the showing of a short video on the manatee, coloring activities and get up and jump sessions.  The CZMAI is grateful to the teachers and students from Stepping Stones Preschool and Horizon Academy who made the morning wonderful fun for our staff and parents that attended.