Following the creation of the Regional Strategy for the Control of Lionfish in MAR (2014), Blue Ventures and the Belize Fisheries Department began developing a lionfish management strategy for the country that fully considered direct and indirect interactions between social and ecological systems.

In support to this efforts and with your help, they will be able to launch the National Lionfish Management Strategy (NLMS) and create the Lionfish Working Group. Their aim is to share the strategy with stakeholders to ensure buy-in and to progress to implementation

The objectives of this phase are:

• To launch Belize’s National Lionfish Management Strategy (NLMS), in collaboration with the Belize Fisheries Department, and disseminate the strategy amongst coastal communities and key stakeholders around the country.
• To establish a multidisciplinary Lionfish Working Group (LFWG), that will coordinate and assess progress against the strategy.

All support provided has been possible thanks to your involvement, each activity developed takes us closer to the thriving resource we want our future generations to enjoy.

Thank you for your help and for believing in our work.

We´ll keep you posted on how this project is developed.

The MAR Fund Team.

We continue supporting Cuerpos de Conservación de Omoa (CCO), the NGO that co-administrates the Cuyamel Omoa National Park. With your help we were able to provide funding to develop a project called “Improving Governance and the Scientific Basis of Landscape in the Paraiso, Muchilena and Chachahuala” (PAMUCH) Fish Replenishment Zone, Omoa, Honduras”

Through this support we´ll be able to strengthen the Governance with the participation of stakeholders, expand the information base of the landscape of PAMUCH, promote processes of scientific research and social knowledge of the lionfish and expand the technical recommendations for its control.

The objectives of this phase are:

• Evaluate the progress made with the PAMUCH Interinstitutional Committee and propose new management actions.
• Carry out a study of the area of influence of the ARP PAMUCH to determine the environmental problems and identify potential sustainable alternatives that will allow the improvement of income to the surrounding inhabitants and within the micro-watersheds.
• Support a population study of the Lionfish by the Department of Biology of the UNAH Valle Sula and determine the potential for its local market.
• Implement control and surveillance activities in PAMUCH.

All support provided has been possible thanks to your involvement, each activity developed takes us closer to the thriving resource we want our future generations to enjoy.

Thank you for your help and for believing in our work.

May this holiday season be fill with joy and love!

We´ll keep you posted on how this project is developed.

Happy Holidays

The MAR Fund Team.

Support continues in Punta de Manabique Wildlife Refuge, Guatemala, the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), jointly with Seeds of the Ocean (SDO) and the Center for Sea Studies and Aquaculture (CEMA), presented a project called “Sustainable actions for the management, reduction and consumption incentive of the lionfish invasive species Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Caribbean of Guatemala”.

This project aims to establish actions that allow the control, management and reduction of the lionfish, as well as encouraging the consumption of the species in the Caribbean of Guatemala and the establishment of the National Lionfish Committee that creates a space for decision making and promote the implementation of the National Lionfish Strategy for the Caribbean of Guatemala.

The objectives of this phase are:

• Establish the National Strategy and the National Committee of Lionfish P. volitans for the Caribbean of Guatemala.
• Apply control and reduction measures, through periodic extractions of Lionfish P. volitans on the reefs of "Bajón" and "Motagüilla" in the Punta de Manabique Wildlife Refuge.
• Make a record of the meristic and morphological characters of the extracted Lionfish that support decision making for the management and control of the species.
• Encourage the consumption of Lionfish in Puerto Barrios, through a gastronomic event, with the participation of the Women's Group of the El Quetzalito Community.

The knowledge acquire through this project will help the area manager understand this species behavior better and make informed decisions in regards to its control.

All funding provided has been able thanks to your support and engagement with our projects.

May this holiday season be fill with joy and love!

We´ll keep you posted on how this project is developed.

Happy Holidays

The MAR Fund Team.