BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC) – The Belize government Thursday said it has received a US$300,000 grant from the World Trade Organization (WTO) Fish Fund to help the country build the legal and institutional capacity needed to manage emerging fisheries subsidy programmes responsibly, while ensuring they support livelihoods without inadvertently encouraging harmful fishing practices.

The WTO has approved the “Building Legal Understanding and Enforcement Capacity for Fisheries Subsidies Reform in Belize (BLUE-CAP) project that the government says  complements ongoing Blue Economy initiatives, such as the Inter American Development Bank (IDB)-supported programme to expand artisanal fisheries and the national Blue Economy Development Policy and Strategy.

“Together, these efforts reinforce Belize’s vision of a blue economy that is both economically empowering and environmentally sustainable,” the government said, adding that “the success of this application reflects the close collaboration of the Directorate General for Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Blue Economy and Marine Conservation, the Fisheries Department, and the High Seas Fisheries Unit, in partnership with the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM).

The government said as a result of the grant, it is looking forward to working with national and regional partners to safeguard marine resources for future generations.