Officials of Northern Fishermen Cooperative Society Limited, Oceana Inc., Oceana in Belize and the Belize Bank today penned agreements that conclude six months of negotiations to buy out the last two Belizean trawlers as a part of a government-backed move to universally ban all forms of trawling—not just bottom trawling for shrimp—in Belizean waters.
The cooperative and Oceana signed a vessel purchase/sale agreement and a security agreement Wednesday afternoon. The parties also signed a separate loan/grant agreement with the Belize Bank.
Audrey Matura-Shepherd, vice president of Oceana in Belize, told the media that Oceana is giving $800,000 to the Northern Fishermen Cooperative — $650,000 to purchase the two trawlers and $150,000 to be retained by the Belize Bank.
According to the agreement, $100,000 is for micro-loans for fishers, and $50,000 is for disaster relief. The $650,000 goes to the Belize Bank, which had the trawlers held as collateral against the cooperative’s bank debt.
Read the complete story from Belize News.