Belize

• the export, or attempted export, of any turtle or articles made from any part of a turtle unless under a licence granted by the relevant minister;
• the take of turtles “found on the shores of Belize and adjacent cays thereof”;
• the setting or attempted setting of any net or seine or other instrument with the intent of taking turtles within 100 yards of the shores of Belize or of the adjacent cays;
• the take or possession of any turtle or turtle eggs during a closed season from 1 June to 31 August; and
• the take, purchase, sale or possession of turtles under the following weights:

Loggerhead: 30 lb (13 kg)
Green Turtle: 50 lb (23 kg)
Hawksbill Turtle: 50 lb (23 kg)

The Regulations further provided for:

• the issuance of a commercial fisher’s licence in order to take turtles; and
• the levying of a maximum fine of 500 Belize dollars (BZD500) for persons convicted of violating the regulations.

The Wildlife Protection Act of 1981 included in its list of protected species four marine turtle species—the Loggerhead, Green Turtle, Hawksbill Turtle and Leatherback—thus establishing a moratorium on the hunting, sale or any dealing for profit, and import or export without a permit of any of these animals or part thereof, including nests and eggs. However, because of a conflict with the Fisheries Regulations, these four species were deleted from the Act through Statutory Instrument No. 12 in January 1982 (Searle, 2001; Smith et al., 1992).

The Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations of 1993 substantially revised the restrictions on the take of marine turtles, by prohibiting:

• the take, sale, purchase or possession of Hawksbill Turtles at all times;
• the take, sale, purchase or possession of any marine turtle during a six-month closed season from 1 April to 31 October;
• the take of any turtle found on land or interference with any turtle nest;
• the disturbance, damage, take, sale, purchase or possession of any turtle egg;
• the setting or attempted setting of any net, seine or other instrument with the intent of taking turtles within 100 yards of the shores or adjacent cays of Belize.
• the take, sale, purchase or possession of any Green Turtle or Loggerhead greater than 60 cm (24 ins) curved carapace length (CCL); and
• the import, transit, or export of any turtle without a valid permit issued by the relevant minister.

In addition, the Regulations prohibited the purchase, sale or possession of any articles made of turtle shell.

Although possession of any articles held on the date of entry into force of the Regulations was allowed, those articles were prohibited from subsequent sale after 31 July 1993.
The most recent revision of the Regulations, the Fisheries (Amendment) Regulations (Statutory Instrument No. 66) of 2002, provides almost complete protection for the marine turtles of Belize. Designed to bring Belize in line with IAC, which Belize ratified in February 2003, these Regulations prohibit:

• fishing in the waters of Belize or the purchase, sale or possession of any marine turtle;
• the take of any turtle found on land; the disturbance, take, purchase, sale or possession of any turtle or turtle eggs; and the interference with any turtle nest, except under written permission by the Fisheries Administrator; and
• the import to, transit through, or export from Belize of any turtle or turtle products.

The Regulations also provide for:

• increased penalties for violations of the prohibitions set out in the law, namely a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars per turtle or part of a turtle, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both the fine and imprisonment;
• prior issuance of a written permit from the Fisheries Administrator for the take or use of any marine turtle (other than Hawksbill Turtles, which are fully protected at all times) for traditional or cultural use. The permit must specify the “amount and specific purpose for such use”;
• the requirement that any shrimp trawler operating in the waters of Belize must be fitted with a pre-approved operational turtle excluder device (TED); and
• right to possession for personal use of any articles made of turtle shell held by anyone on the date of entry into force (1 June 2002) of the Regulations.