Today was very interesting, we started out with a presentation by Brent Mitchell from QLF on how things work in Massachusetts, with the different towns, and the broader New England as well as the Federal Government. It is amazing how one issue really can cut across many entities before a decision can me made but Brent took his time explaining that the History of New England and the rest of the country has a lot to do with it.
Next we went to New England Fishery Management Council, which by the way is only one of the eight regional councils legislated 35 years ago, in fact one council is even in the Caribbean. In more than one ways, the NE Council is in a position similar to the NGO's in Belize where they essentially look for ways to balance the needs of the policy makers, resource users (fishers) and environmentalists. Interestingly, they have recommend Catch Shares as a means of managing several fisheries in this area, it has been working for 3 years, but not without some issues, Paul Howard, who is the executive director also thinks that Ecosystem Based Management along with catch shares is the key to addressing the issues they are facing. One lesson learnt is that for any of this to work, fishers have to become stewards of the resources. In this light Belize may be a little ahead of the game as we already have a group of fishers that are considered stewards. TIDE and WCS along with EDF and Belize Fisheries Department are on a mission to implement catch shares for commercial species in Belize starting with some MPA's. We can certainly learn from the Fishery Management Councils in the US.
Our Final stop was to the Custom House Maritime Museum, in Newburyport, or as our extremely friendly and knowledgeable guide (Cricket) puts it, "The Brick Town". The residents that live in over 90% Brick houses did an exceptional job of preserving the historical legend of the English as they rule this area. Many of the items in the museum also "Hit Home" for us as well since Britain also ruled Belize (Formerly British Honduras) as well. Unfortunately, we haven't done a great job in preserving that part of our history, all is not lost but if we don't actively try to preserve it, it will be lost. The history of Newburyport is significant in shaping trade and maritime protection, as this is the birthplace of the US Coast guard. For me, I can only imagine how wealthy these people were, when I look at the technology they possess and the industries they built, I can tell they were very Educated.
Its now 12:20 am (Thursday Morning) in Ipswich and I'm not so sleepy, but that's because its only 10:20pm (Wednesday night) in Belize, however, I'd better to get some sleep, we got an early day later.... To be continued........
Good to know of your experiences on the QLF fellowship, Joe! Obviously you can relate to much of what is happening and can share what we are doing in Belize!
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot during my fellowship in 2007 and am happy I participated. All is well at TIDE! Make much of your time there!