Belize will put fishers back at the centre of decision-making as the Government and the UK’s Marine Management Organisation move to reinstate Managed Access Committees (MACs). Announced on 22 December 2025 by the British High Commission in Belmopan, the plan pairs technical support with community meetings across fishing villages.

Managed Access-Belize’s rights-based fishing programme rolled out nationally in 2016-allocates traditional grounds to licensed fishers and requires catch reporting. The committees give elected fishers a formal say in licensing and compliance, improving trust between communities and managers.

Officials say the next round of listening sessions runs from January to March 2026 in northern and central Belize, with fishers calling for more seats for women, younger crew and people working along the supply chain. That broader mix is central to how MACs will operate.

For a country with roughly 3,000 small‑scale fishers, better governance is not a detail; it underpins food security and incomes. During early trials of Managed Access, more than 90% of fishers submitted catch data, giving managers the evidence they need to set fair rules, according to the Reef Resilience Network.

This reset dovetails with Belize’s Blue Bonds work. In August 2025 the Government confirmed that 25.05% of national waters are now designated as Biodiversity Protection Zones after an inclusive marine spatial planning process led by CZMAI and the Fisheries Department; the programme’s target is 30% protection by 2026.

The economic stakes are large. The World Bank estimates that the barrier reef and connected coastal features contribute more than US$1 billion annually through tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection. The Nature Conservancy estimates commercial fisheries add around US$30 million to GDP.

On the water, co‑management can change behaviours. Wildlife Conservation Society data from Glover’s Reef show illegal fishing infractions fell from 9% to 4% after Managed Access was introduced, alongside stronger fisher stewardship.

Trade access also depends on credible rules. In September 2025, the United States’ NOAA granted Belize a comparability finding for all listed fisheries under the Marine Mammal Protection Act import provisions, allowing exports to continue beyond 1 January 2026 and running through 2029 unless revised.

Export figures show why that matters. UN Comtrade records US$9.6 million in frozen rock lobster exports in 2023, largely to the United States and Australia. Belize’s fisheries sector directly supports over 2,500 fishers and more than 15,000 people indirectly, according to UNCTAD and the Belize Fisheries Department.

The UK partnership sits within the Ocean Country Partnership Programme, formalised in March 2023 to strengthen marine science and policy tools. Recent grants have backed women‑led seaweed mariculture and mangrove nursery research to grow blue jobs and nursery habitats in Belize.

MACs can translate these national ambitions into everyday decisions if meetings are open, criteria for licences are published, and catch data are shared back to communities. That feedback loop is exactly what the UK–Belize team says it wants to hardwire.

The Belize Barrier Reef was removed from UNESCO’s danger list in 2018 after safeguards on oil and mangroves were put in place. Keeping it healthy while keeping coastal families in work is the prize-and with fishers back at the table, Belize has a practical route to both.