Speafishing Belize - Seasons, Limits, Etc.

[rford150]

Hey everyone,

I'm a spearfishing newbie and will be hitting Belize (Placencia) in July. I've scoured the web looking permisable species, seasons, limits, etc. Does anyone out there have information? I found the regulation document but it was less than helpful. I appreciate in advanced any help.

Thanks,

Justin

 

[Mr. X]

Just Googled "Belize spear fishing" and it returned quite a lot of interesting links, inc. youtube videos. This link says spearfishing on SCUBA is not permitted in Belize.

Maybe Lord Ashcroft could advise you - seems a helpful sort of chap

 

[rford150]

I got plenty of useful information myself. I was more accurately looking for information regarding seasons, limits, and allowable areas. I'll contact Lord Ashcroft and see if he can assist. Thanks for looking out.

 

[rford150]

Ok, Mr. X. Nice one. Just saw Lord Ashcroft was a business politician character. Shows the American/British social barrier. Lol. I'll keep hunting for info. I think getting there and more info will develop. Thanks, for you help.

 

[settingsteel]

last I heard Belize closed the doors on Spearfishing

 

[rford150]

I did a quick search and found out that it is only prohibited in wildlife preserves.

central america

Anyone else heard of such?

 

[settingsteel]

If your'e a tourist you can't spearfish in Belize, different story if your a citizen...but if in doubt here's a link Fisheries Department write Ms Wade, who knows things may have very well changed as it does in many of our latin American countries, good luck

 

[rford150]

Thanks for your help, Steel. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[rford150]

Just got back from Belize and they do allow spearfishing in some areas. Getting the gun through customs was a breeze, as they did not check baggage. Staying in Placencia, we hit Mosquito Island (exactly as is sounds, stay in the water), Conch Island, and another island past Laughingbird (do not recall the name). Hot quite well with the snapper and the grouper. Even hit a few barracudas. Sharks were limited. We only saw a few Nurse Sharks. Saw some Grey Reef Sharks but simply headed in for a moment for the sake of my stringer. I recommend this area to all. Look for a guide, they are not the cheapest, but they will drop you off on fish. They also recommended looking for a Whale Shark as Tuna tend to hang around. We never had that opportunity.

All was going great until my Cressi Comanche locked up and I had to disassemble and repair back at the house. Thankfully this happened on the last day. A lesson learned, use a real float line. The garden variety yellow nylon attached to my float was a big hassle, especially when you are hunting downstream.

I was actually quite impressed with the gun and how inexpensive it was. Given the lock up was an inconvenience, the accuracy of the gun was excellent. This was my first spear trip. I've been diving and land hunting my whole life along with my built in knowledge of the two, did quite well. I'll try the gun a few more times and if the lock up persists, I'll get rid of it and go for a Mako Speargun. I've heard many good things and my last order from them had a problem with shipping. They made it right and earned a lifetime customer so I'll give their guns a shot.

 

[hank49]

Interesting. About 3-4 months ago, Fisheries announced that tourists were banned from spearfishing here. This was to help protect the local fishery resource. Problem with that logic is that tourist spearos account for (I would guess) about .001 % of the fish taken here.
I haven't check lately with Fisheries but hopefully, based on your recent trip, they have shit canned that stupid rule.
Glad you had fun. I used to spear there around Mosquito Caye, Moho, Crawl, Rendezvous (there is one there and another about 35 miles north) Baker's Rendezvous....lots of fish around there....and sharks too.
I'm located on the coast about 10 miles north of Dangriga now....40 miles north of Placencia. No fish inside the reef here anymore.
Too bad you didn't hook up with me. I have extra guns I could have loaned you.

 

[rford150]

We stayed at Sunset Point in Placencia. I checked with the local guides and they all said spearing was legal. We ran across a fishery enforcement officer and he said it was ok as long as we were not on reserve grounds. We hit Moho also and did quite well with snapper. We will be returning next summer or maybe sooner. I'll be sure to look you up for the next trip.

 

[hank49]

It's really nice down there inside the reef. Once you cross Moho...actually a line from Laughingbird Caye north to Crawl Caye, you're in the Victoria Channel and the water off the east of all that ridge is over 100 feet deep.
I've seen some pretty big bulls off Moho. Shot lots of hogs, muttons, cuberas and jacks and two cobia there. There used to be a couple shrimp trawlers that would anchor there in the daytime. They would come in at sunrise and man, birds everywhere and they crew catching skip jacks with hook and line off the boats.

 

[rford150]

Sounds great! We'll definately have to hook up next year. The guide told us they never see Cobia (Leng) out there.