Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

Large (~178,000-acre / 730 km2) estuarine manatee wildlife sanctuary (IUCN category IV, WDPA 301909) in northern Belize behind Ambergris Caye (Corozal/Belize Districts), declared in 1998 under the National Parks System Act 1981 and co-managed by the Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development (SACD) with the Forest and Fisheries Departments. As a marine protected area its Sustainable Fishery Plan expressly bans spear guns, polespears, Hawaiian slings and spearfishing (as well as scuba-tank fishing, explosives and trawling); only licensed traditional gear (hand lines, cast nets, gill nets, beach/fish traps) may be used and only in general-use zones, while all fishing is prohibited in the sanctuary's Preservation Zone and only permitted under licence in Conservation Zones. Spearfishing and spearguns are banned as in all Belize marine protected areas.