| Fast Facts |
location
Running 250 miles from Yucatán Peninsula to Honduras' Bay Islands Ecoregion: Central Caribbean Sea
project size
180 miles in Belize
preserves
15,000 acres of adjacent coastline (owned by partner TIDE)
public lands
in Belize: Marine protected areas and reserves (Port Honduras, Gladden Spit, Laughing Bird Caye, Sapodilla Cayes, Half Moon Caye)
partners
in Belize: Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, Friends of Nature, Belize Audubon Society, Belize Department of Fisheries, Wildlife Conservation Society, USAID, World Bank, World Wildlife Fund, World Resources Institute, Wildlife Conservation Society,
conservancy initiatives
Marine, Freshwater
natural events
Spawning aggregations of snapper lure whale sharks, full moons March - June | |
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| Pinpointing the exact location where reef fish spawn -- on the full moon off the reef's steep coral cliffs -- is pivotal to the recovery of declining Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico fisheries. |
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Cays, Glover Reef.
© Kenneth Garrett |
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More than a million years ago tiny marine organisms began laying the foundations of the Meso-American Reef, a long spine of coral hugging the shore of present-day Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. Through the ages their fanciful castles, spires and grottoes grew taller and bigger with each wave of calcium carbonate and skeleton laid down by coral polyps, coralline algae, tube worms and mollusks. Their construction continues to this day, making the Meso-American Reef the second largest in the world after Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
Lining the reef are hundreds of cays, small islands of coral and sand once inhabited by the Maya. On their leeward side mangrove swamps shelter lagoons -- perfect habitat for West Indian manatees. |
Cubera snapper spawning.
© Will Heyman/TNC |
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On the windward side of the reef, where the coral shelf drops off into the deep Caribbean trench, full moons trigger huge spawning aggregations of reef fish. In the upwelling currents along these cliffs, spiraling columns of cubera snapper, dog snapper, and other reef fish release opaque clouds of sperm and eggs. Plankton-eating whale sharks, the largest fish in |
| the ocean, circle in to feast on the spawn. A marine biologist working for The Nature Conservancy only recently witnessed this spectacle of nature and has since been able to pinpoint the exact timing and location of the spawning aggregations -- a critical step in the protection of endangered fish like Nassau grouper. | |
Working with Friends of Nature, the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment and others in Belize, the Conservancy helped secure marine protected area status for Gladden Spit -- one of the spawning aggregation sites -- and Port Honduras, a large section of sea that spans 10 percent of Belize's coastline. To address the overfishing that has depleted their waters, local fishermen have voluntarily called for no-take zones and a ban on gill-net fishing to help the fisheries rebound. The Conservancy has also helped retrain former fishermen as saltwater fly-fishing, scuba and kayak guides and as rangers who patrol the protected areas.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Belize. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
whale sharks, Nassau grouper, snapper, spawning aggregations of reef fish, coral reefs, manatees, mangroves, seagrass beds
stresses
overfishing, hunting of manatees, sedimentation and polluted runoff from agriculture and unregulated development, damage to corals from boat anchors and nets
strategies
identify spawning aggregation sites, designate marine protected areas, engage community in natural resource management, promote compatible economic development, protect water quality, promote ecologically sound public policies, identify sites resilient to coral bleaching
results
Port Honduras and Gladden Spit declared marine reserves in 2000 | | | | |
